Members of Wootton Bassett School Council are being praised for the positive effect they are having on the town's wider community.

Since it formed just two years ago, the school council has already made its mark on the town, bringing in measures on antisocial behaviour, healthy eating, bullying and uniform and members are planning a lot more.

Its latest initiative has been to improve communications with the police, one of the benefits of which has been to nip emergent antisocial behaviour problems in the bud.

Headmaster Chris Montacute said: "This is a really strong council and I am very impressed with what they have achieved.

"The council has only been running for two years, but already it has made a lot of very practical and useful suggestions for improving the school."

Among the innovations made by the 16-strong council are a 'bullying box' in reception, where children who are being bullied can put in notes without having to put their names on.

It has also pioneered the idea of an e-mail link with Wootton Bassett police, to improve communications between police and school pupils.

Wootton Bassett community sergeant Andy Fortune said: "There have been a few problems reported from the houses next to the school, with some level of anti-social behaviour from the school pupils.

"I would urge people living in those houses to report anything that happens to the police, so we can understand the scale of the problem, but I have been very impressed with the school council's response."

PC Freddy Hugill has been appointed as the liaison officer for the school, and has already started attending school council meetings and assemblies, and is planning to ride on the school bus, to give him an opportunity to get to know some of the pupils.

He said: "I hope to break down distrust and be a visible point of contact so people can speak to me directly.

"As confidence in the local police increases, people feel more inclined to report things."

Headgirl Jenny Boyd, 18, said: "The initial meeting with PC Hugill was very productive. We are in the process of organising assemblies for each year group so all the kids can get to know his face and what he does.

"The school already has a strong stance on bullying but it is good to have someone outside the school that kids can contact."

Council member Jess Allen, 18, added: "We wanted the pupils to see that the police can be there to help, and shouldn't be treated like an enemy or people who just come in to the school when there is a problem."

As well as talking to the police, the pupils have invited the neighbours to come in to school and talk to them if they have any problems.

Eric Murray, 16, said: "Some of the neighbours have complained that pupils were walking though their gardens or making a noise, so we are working on an idea to provide small fences for their gardens, and possibly some planters with flowers in for them. I think it's good for us to talk to them, because if they don't tell us if there is a problem we can't deal with it."

The council is also looking at ways to work more closely with the town council, and has a meeting lined up with town councillor John Allen.

The council also gets involved in raising the money to implement its ideas, and is currently having a series of non-uniform days to fund its latest idea, a large playground clock to make sure no-one has an excuse for being late for lessons.

It is also having meetings with the kitchen staff to improve the range of healthy options in the school canteen, which are proving popular with pupils.