A STOURBRIDGE schoolgirl had to spend the festive season mourning her beloved cat after it was run over and killed just days after she won police praise for her efforts to encourage school run road motorists to park and drive more carefully.

Hannah Alfrey, of Farndale Close, was left heartbroken after her family's two-year-old ginger tom cat Thomas was knocked down in her street just before the Christmas break on December 19.

Ironically less than a week earlier the 11-year-old Peters Hill Primary School pupil had won a borough police prize to warn people about the risks of inconsiderate driving and careless parking near schools.

The competition, organised by Lye and Stourbridge North Neighbourhood Team, asked school pupils to design a poster to raise awareness of road safety issues around schools and Hannah’s eye-catching design was voted the winner.

Stourbridge Police Inspector Dez Lambert said: “It’s tragically ironic that this has happened to this little girl who had the best idea for the poster. The intention was to use it to educate parents to play their part and not block people’s drives and park on the corners of the roads.”

Hannah’s mum Michelle Tromans said drivers use Farndale Close and other streets in the vicinity as a “car park and a race track”.

She said Hannah and three sisters and 17-month-old brother had been left “mortified” by Thomas’s unfortunate end - and she warned: “Sooner or later it’s going to be a child that gets hit.”

Insp Lambert said: “We’re going to continue our activities down there - trying to educate drivers and punish those who commit traffic offences.”