Parents protest as lollipop lady's job cut

Parents protesting outside a primary school say making its lollipop lady redundant raises serious safety concerns.

Lisa Bryan had been helping children cross the road outside Eye Primary for more than 26 years, but she is one of four such workers losing their jobs across Peterborough as the city council makes budget cuts.

She described her job as a daily "battle" with traffic, which one parents described as "awful".

Angus Ellis, cabinet member for environment and transport at the Labour-run council, said: "Speed restrictions such as 20mph zones are in place at each of the schools and we are also providing road safety education for pupils."

Families have protested outside Eye Primary calling for Ms Bryan's job to be saved.

She is temporarily continuing her job as a volunteer.

"There's not a lot I can do; I've just got to take it on the chin; I just feel sorry for the children and the parents," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"The traffic doesn't stop for me so what makes them thinks it will stop for parents, whether there is a zebra crossing or not?

"In the mornings, it's a fighting battle every day."

Katie Berry, one of the parents, said: "The amount of accidents and near misses I've seen - it's almost daily. It's a complete rat-run.

"[An accident] is really now a matter of time. I know it sounds dramatic, but it is a 'when', not an 'if' now."

She described Ms Bryan as a "lovely lady".

Steve Allen, a Conservative councillor for Eye, joined parents at the protest and called the road "a total nightmare".

"I know the council has to save money and I'm conscious council officers have been trying to close down the lollipop lady operations, but I think you have to look at each one in isolation," he said.

The council said plans to cut school crossing services at four schools was agreed as part of the 2024-25 budget.

"It is one of a number of difficult decisions councillors have had to make to be able to balance the budget," said Ellis.

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