There is no safety equipment - the ladders are replaced every five years

If you’re still at school, then, next time you’re on your way there, spare a thought for these children from China’s mountainous Sangzhi County. Theirs, it’s quite likely, is a rather more hair-raising journey than yours.

To get to classes, children in Zhangjiawan village must scale two 20m (65ft) wooden ladders, each positioned vertically against a cliff.

If they fall (the children have no safety equipment), there’s a 70m (229ft) pit below the ladders to consider.

In an effort to minimise the commuting risks, villagers replace the ladders every five years to prevent rot.

After the village’s story appeared in the Chinese media the local government said it would build concrete steps to replace the ladders. But the residents of economically deprived Zhangjiawan are campaigning