A head teacher is worried that a delay in replacing a lollipop man on a busy road outside her school could put her pupils in danger.

Sandy Lane Primary School has not had a school crossing patroller to help children across busy Cottingley Road since someone stepped down from the role after Christmas.

Head teacher Angela Woodthorpe said the lack of a crossing patrol had left her worried for the safety of her pupils.

She said the road was already hazardous enough, with parked cars, a narrow pavement and lots of passing trucks making crossing over difficult.

Mrs Woodthorpe described the situation as “an accident waiting to happen”.

She said: “It just feels as though it would have to take a child to be injured for something to be done about it.”

Grandmother Janet Carass, who picks up her two granddaughters from the school every Monday, agreed that the road was hazardous.

She said: “Every time I do the pick-up I have a grumble about this road.

“It wasn’t built for this amount of vehicles.”

Ward Councillor Valerie Binney (Con, Thornton and Allerton) has now taken up the school’s concerns.

Coun Binney said if the non-replacement of the school crossing patroller was designed to cut costs, savings should be found from elsewhere instead.

She said: “The saving will be a meagre few thousand pounds per year and when you weigh that up against placing children’s safety at risk, I think that the money has been very well spent and any potential savings are very easily outweighed by this unnecessary risk.”

But Councillor Ralph Berry, executive member for children’s services, said the patrol position outside Sandy Lane had not been axed.

He said a review was being undertaken into the locations of all school crossing patrols across the district, to make sure they were in the most effective places.

Coun Berry said the Council had received a number of requests for new patrols and had taken the opportunity to have a full review, which it had not done since 1996. As a result, the staff member outside Sandy Lane Primary School would not be replaced until the review was complete.

He said: “I understand Coun Binney’s concerns and we want this review done as quickly as possible.”

A Council spokesman said as the road was a very busy one, it was highly likely the patrol would be reinstated in due course.