Brighton parents campaign for school crossing patrol at '˜traffic blackspot'

Parents campaigning outside Stanford Infants and Junior schools to get a new lollipop lady

For years, the children of Stanford Infants and Junior have made their way to school with the help of school crossing patrol officer, or ‘lollipop lady,’ Helen Reynolds.

Since the well-loved Mrs Reynolds retired in December 2017, this post has remained vacant, despite efforts by the schools to recruit a replacement.

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Sarah Nield, a parent and campaigner for the reinstatement of a patrol officer said: “All it will take is for one of us, one time, to make a mistake, to misjudge a moment, and a tragedy is going to happen.”

Stanford Infants and Stanford Junior are split across two sites along Highcroft Villas and Stanford Road.

Parents say both are directly affected by the lack of safety on this crossing.

Madeleine Denyer, headteacher of Stanford Infants said: “Much more needs to be done to demonstrate the council’s commitment to making the journey to and from school a safe and happy one.”

She said she fully supports the parent campaign and hopes it will provoke a more ‘positive and proactive response from the council’.

Paul Davies, head teacher of Stanford Junior added: “It is a matter of time before someone, possibly a child, is seriously injured, and a replacement patrol officer should be appointed as a matter of some urgency.”

The council says recruitment for patrol officers is low nationally due to the nature of the work and the unsociable hours.

A council spokesperson said: “We continue to try and recruit an officer for this position in addition to looking at alternative design solutions and possible pedestrian refuges to assist pedestrians with crossing.”