Child could die on 60mph road if crossing patrol not put in place, Castlerock primary school warns

Parents of children attending a co Londonderry primary school are warning a child could die if a lollipop person is not put in place.

Hezlett Primary in Castlerock is situated on Mussenden Road which has a speed limit of 60mph.

There are 20mph temporary signs which flash to warn drivers to slow down during school start and end times, but they currently are not working.

The school's principal Donna Winters told UTV that even when the signs do work, many drivers ignore them.

She said: "On a weekly basis we would have cars that are screeching to a halt out there, even when we had our crossing patrol man.

"At the minute, we do have cars on a daily basis who are ignoring those 20mph warning lights. I or the other teachers are waiting for ages every afternoon, we are maybe only crossing eight to ten children but it takes a long time to do it."

The school did have a crossing patrol supervisor up until November 2022 when they resigned from the post.

Ms Winters said she asked the Education Authority to recruit someone new but that they told her they had no budget to recruit or train any new patrol staff.

Mother Hannah Davies, whose daughter is in P3 at Hezlett Primary School, told UTV the education budget is now at its "bare bones".

"I mean it's getting to the point where we can't even afford the most basic things to protect our children's safety," she said.

"The fear is there will be some kind of terrible accident, obviously for the child concerned but for the whole school community to witness that...

"It just feels like it's not a question of if, it's a question of when, unless something gets done"

In response, the Education Authority said it "will work through the allocations and implications across a range of critical services. However, it is clear that the EA is facing a significant funding gap in this new financial year."

Figures from the EA show that this is a Northern Ireland-wide issue, with 30 crossing patrol staff leaving their posts since April 2022 - a 10% decline.

The funding crisis in education isn't a new topic, with many programmes being axed in the next school year due to a Stormont deficit.

But parents and grandparents of the pupils believe that the safety of children isn't something that should be targeted by funding cuts.

Billy Nutt, who is a grandfather to two children at the school, is hosting a fundraiser in Castlerock to help out the school.

"There are so many things that they're not getting doing now like going to swimming, playing football and then the big problem which really brought this to a head was the school crossing patrol being taken off... like children's lives are in danger," he told UTV.

The school is now in talks with the PSNI and Department for Infrastructure about getting a pelican crossing installed.

Until then, the fear is this is an accident waiting to happen.

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