Bristol lollipop ladies and men facing loss of jobs due to council saving measures

All lollipop ladies and men may be axed across Bristol under city council plans to save money.

Bristol City Council are proposing to "remove funding" from school crossing patrols from April as part of its annual budget.

The local authority currently face a £52 million funding gap over the next five years. Scrapping lollipop patrols would save the council £314,000 a year.

The plans have faced criticism from parents - with one angry mother from Bridge Farm Primary School in Whitchurch describing the idea as "absolute insanity."

She said: “We have three lollipop ladies at our school, and this would be a huge loss.

“It is an absolutely shameful move by the council. These people’s roles are so important to ensuring the safety of children - they’re literally contracted to work five hours per week.

“I’m honestly fuming about it, not least because our lollipop lady is the loveliest lady you’ll ever meet.

“She knows absolutely everyone’s names, buys the kids little toys for Halloween and is just lush, she’s been doing it for nearly 20 years.”

Green council leader Cllr Tony Dyer said it would face bankruptcy if it could not close the financial gap so needed to make tough decisions.

He said: “This is a very tough time for Bristol, and we recognise the difficulties being faced by many households and communities.

“This will not be a perfect or painless process – with the challenges we face it was never going to be.”

Bristol City Council proposed cutting lollipop patrols in 2018 but faced widespread opposition.

It decided to keep only school crossing patrols at locations where there was not a traffic light crossing or a zebra crossing already.

Councillors from opposition parties have said scrapping lollipop ladies and men could put children at risk. Statistics show that children from the poorest households are 28 times more likely to be killed in roads compared with better-off youngsters.

Bristol Labour group leader Cllr Tom Renhard said: “One serious injury on Bristol’s roads is one too many.

“We are deeply concerned that Green Party plans to scrap school crossing patrols will put children in harm’s way.

“Councillors unanimously voted to support ‘Vision Zero’ – a strategy for zero road deaths or serious injuries in Bristol.

“Sadly, the Greens seem to have now abandoned these plans. Bristol needs more school streets and road safety measures – not less.

“We hope the Greens will see sense and drop this ill-thought-out proposal.”

Credit: Adam Postans (Local Democracy Reporting Service)