Lollipop men and woman in Bradford are increasingly suffering from drivers' road rage, it was revealed today.

Yusuf Seedat, pictured, has been seeing children safely across a busy main road for a decade. But he said he regularly faces danger, with motorists speeding up as he steps on to the road and hurling abuse when he orders them to stop.

Road safety pressure group the Guild of Experienced Motorists has warned that drivers' lack of respect for school crossing patrols is threatening the very future of the service which has its 50th anniversary this year.

Crossing patrols are declining in numbers across the country and impatient drivers are being cited as a major factor.

And, with many school crossing sites left unmanned, children's lives are being put at risk.

Mr Seedat sees children at Princeville First School across busy Legrams Lane four times a day. Increasingly he finds himself dodging speeding vehicles.

"As soon as I step on to the road they speed up, even when children are there," he said.

"Crossing patrols have the same powers to stop vehicles as the police, but very often motorists don't give us any respect.

"People park on zig-zag lines near the crossing, too, which makes it difficult for me to see cars approaching. One time a driver came speeding down the road and had to brake hard when he saw me.

"He only just missed me. He'd been planning to go through a red light and couldn't see me at first because of parked cars.

"If I tell people not to park on zig-zags I get verbal abuse."

Last November Rachel Lawn quit her crossing patrol, fearing she would be killed by aggressive drivers. Days after she resigned, a ten-year-old boy suffered leg and back injuries in an accident outside Hollingwood Primary School, Great Horton, Bradford, where she worked.

"It's frightening going out there armed with just a lollipop stick these days," she said. "Quite often I almost ended up on the bonnets of cars."

David Williams, chief executive of the Guild of Experienced Motorists, said: "We spoke to a number of local authorities and were shocked to discover how many school crossing sites are unmanned. The recurring message we're getting is that a lot of crossing patrols are put off by the way motorists treat them. Road rage is a big factor. Motorists need to know that stop means stop."

A spokesperson for Education Bradford said there were 165 crossing patrols in the Bradford district.

"There are a number of vacancies for crossing patrols but the figure is no higher than in other authorities."