A NEWPORT primary school will no longer have a lollipop lady to help children cross the road at the site of a serious accident in 2014, after the council decided to cut funding.

The crossing patrol service at Llanmartin Primary School will stop operating today after the resignation of the present lollipop lady.

School governor Martyn Kellaway and councillor said: “The safety crossing lady at Llanmartin primary school is to be axed following the resignation of our present lady, without consultation by Newport City Council, so beware all other crossings. 

“Only a little over 12 months ago this was the location of serious injury when two young men lost control of their motorcycle.”

Mr Kellaway said staff at the school, of just under 200 pupils, would now have to decide whether to fund the crossing supervisor, which costs around £2,000, from their own budget.

"I have asked the cabinet member Debbie Davies to suspend the decision so proper consultation takes place with parents and the school”, Mr Kellaway said.

“This is another example of the authority failing Underwood and riding roughshod over parents.”

The lollipop lady was needed, he said, because the crossing was right on the bend of the main road going through Underwood, Waltwood Road.

“It feels relatively calm and quiet but for half an hour in the morning and afternoon it can get quite congested,” he said, adding that some of the pupils have special needs.

Teaching assistant Sue Seedhouse criticised the decision to withdraw the service after her 17-year-old son Dan crashed on a bend opposite the school last year.

The teenager lost control of his scooter before smashing into a wall on July 9, 2014. 

He suffered from head injuries and stayed at Royal Gwent Hospital for several days.

He is now partially deaf as a result and uses a hearing aid.

Mrs Seedhouse, whose nine-year-old boy Charlie attends Llanmartin Primary School, said: "With the traffic coming along we have an accident or fatality waiting to happen.”

Another mum Zoe Smith, of Waltwood Road, where Llanmartin School is situated, said: “There has been a crossing patrol for some 30 odd years.

“That patrol is needed. There is also a special needs unit at the school. Children do need to stick to a routine.

“We’ve all witnessed children running out of the school. Vehicles are doing 30, 40, to 45mph. 

“You need something for the children’s safety. What is it going to take, a child being run over?”

A council spokeswoman said: “In accordance with best practice, when school crossing patrol sites become vacant anywhere within Newport, they are assessed against long-established road safety criteria contained within the School Crossing Patrol Service guidelines. These are applied throughout the United Kingdom to determine whether a crossing patrol is required at any given location.

“These national guidelines have been drawn up and developed by road safety professionals, and the assessments are based solely upon road safety factors. Using data that was obtained from an assessment previously undertaken at this site, it was found that the road safety criteria to retain a school crossing patrol at Llanmartin Primary School is no longer met. A replacement patrol person will therefore not be recruited.

“Whilst Newport City Council fully appreciates that some parents may be anxious to learn of the intention not to replace the school crossing patrol at the school, responsibility for ensuring that children travel to and from school safely remains a parental one, irrespective of whether or not a patrol is present.”

Councillor Deb Davies, cabinet member for StreetScene and city services, said: ‘It is never an easy decision for the council to take when determining whether a school crossing patrol should be replaced as the safety of our school children is always paramount. 

“However, we have very recently undertaken an analysis of the safety mechanisms that are already in place outside Llanmartin School, and it has identified positive permanent safety factors which include the 20mph speed limits and a very low traffic volume. 

“In making this assessment the council’s officers have utilised a recognised UK assessment tool and accepted guidelines in order to determine whether the school crossing patrol should be replaced. They have provided me with this data to scrutinise which gives me assurances that their decision is evidenced based.”