A NEW generation of child seats designed to make travel safer and more comfortable for youngsters has been devised by Volvo.

The range of three seats has been developed in conjunction with Britax-Romer and will be available in the next few weeks.

Each of the seats is made with a more breathable and comfortable upholstery made up of 80 per cent wool textile which makes them smoother to the touch, highly durable, and better-performing in both hot and cold climates.

The seats also have a slimmer design, aimed to increase legroom and overall comfort.

Lotta Jakobsson, senior technical leader for injury prevention at Volvo's Cars Safety Centre, said: "We understand that many people find child safety in cars a complex and sometimes confusing subject. We have focused for many years on communicating clear guidelines around how child seats should be used and the correct way to install them.

"We believe that children will be more comfortable in our rearward-facing new seat and that this will encourage parents to keep their children rearward-facing for longer. This will have a direct impact on overall child safety and support our Vision 2020, where no one will be killed or seriously injured in a Volvo car by the year 2020."

The new seats, which have undergone rigorous testing at Volvo's safety centre in Gothenburg, Sweden are designed to suit the needs of children of different ages and sizes and comprise and infant seat which is rearward facing for children up to 13kg or nine months, a child seat, also rearward facing, for children from nine months to six years and a forward facing booster sear for children who have outgrown the rearward facing child seat and who are up to 10 years old.

Volvo says that the seats will be available from June in a number of markets including the UK.