Is this the end for lollipop people?

local councils, desperate to save money, men and women chopping blade across the country. But now, concerned parents are fighting back. . .

Bill, Nicole says Gosling, a mother in Southfield primary school in Acton, west London, is a blessing. In fact, it is "more than that, it is vital It is a busy road. The curve is very dangerous here, I have a four and eight years, I know it can run on and that ".. be sure. And when the elder starts to go it alone ..."

also involved Maura Farrell, Bill, who was doing the work - 90 minutes per day, or about £ 3000 a year - four years ago, is "a gay, friendly, always greeting and say Hello to the children. And wave and say hello. I love it, love it all. It is part of the daily routine, a real part of this community. "

And it must be good for drivers, Catalina recognizes Barlen. "It regulates traffic, really. It looks, there's a bunch of kids who want to spend together, and allows large clusters of cars through at a time. Otherwise, it would be back here for a long time. Cars have to stop each pair of seconds. "

agreement with the Department of Transport, about four million school-age children, accompanied or on their own path, or bike to school in Britain every day. In 2009, the latest year for which figures are available, pedestrians or cyclists seven children were killed or seriously injured every day - two lights, pedestrian crossings and pelicans. A recent survey of more than 15,000 children by the way the brake safety charity, one of 10 children say they have shot at the foot or bicycle, and one in six came.

seems clear that the road crossing patrols - the man known pallet or women with high visibility yellow jackets and large stop signs round - to help ensure that these statistics are even worse. First tested in Britain in the 1940s, became a national institution, after school patrols Act through 1953. But they were never required by law, and tips for hunting for ways to save money in the wake of cuts in government spending, one in four attempts to reduce the number of crossing patrols or even remove the service completely.

Patrol

• Bill is not at risk, at least not yet. But many others across the country are: the Public Service Union Unison said the Northants County Council plans to cut 60 workers on patrol to save £ 201,000 a year (even if it is a promise to maintain a service, if at least 10 schools to fund themselves), Oldham Council wants to reduce its budget £ 75,000 patrols, Barnet in north London has made 10 patrols to save £ 117,000, and all staff patrol Suffolk, covering more than 80 crossings, was once scheduled to go to save £ 180,000.
• 67 of the 91 other jobs were threatened palette in South Tyneside, 31 of the 103 that could go in Stockport, Brent in London tries to re-evaluate the delivery "risk-based", aims to save £ 119,000 Buckinghamshire, Dorset County Council and has threatened to withdraw funding for the county school crossing patrols in the last 65 years, urging the town and parish councils, schools and community groups to find their own funding or the creation voluntary service in place.

"It seems amazing, totally amazing that children should be put in danger to save money," says Helen Toft, a parent governor at Holy Trinity Primary School in Weymouth, who gathered 10,000 signatures a petition imploring Dorset Council to reconsider its decision. "Of all the cuts in government spending and the board is the only one that will directly do that."

Toft, who is a "walking bus" from school to school, said she launched her campaign to save our people Lollipop, after hearing "rumors" that the Council consider possibility of setting disposal service for the school crossing lack of money. "I could not believe they were serious," he said. "But they were. Rid Dorset range of services could save £ 200,000 a year. It is the Council's budget of 0.03%. And the end of the day, the lives of children will be on the line. " The Council is to safeguard, said: "There is no." They must go "is" Where can we get extra money to pay for them ".. Schools can not afford, while we see the sponsorship, but that has its own problems "

The real problem, Toft, is that the school crossing patrols, contrary to what many believe, are not legal services, councils have a general duty to promote road safety, but not not give people pacifier. During a debate in Commons on the issue in March, the Lib Dem transport minister, Norman Baker, has ruled out a new law that requires advice patrols passage, saying that local authorities "in a better position to decide priorities of their local areas, and the best way to improve road safety. "
It's not the way some mothers see. Emily Fielden, who organized a hell sitting across from St. Jude Elementary School in Herne Hill, south London, Lambeth Council plans to stop paying for patrols of the school at the end of this period (about half of primary schools in the city have since moved, and the tide to find funding) said that the road through Railton that your use of children is "very, very busy -.. no islands, no gendarmes lying, nothing, and there are some very aggressive drivers "

See more about : [Helen][Dorset][Maura][Southfield][Nicole]