THE looming retirement of a Bournemouth primary school lollipop man has sparked safety concerns among parents.

BCP Council says it is yet to make a decision on replacing the crossing patrol at Hill View Academy, Hill View Road, but members of the school's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) believe the role is being axed.

PTAmember Catherine Harty told the Daily Echo: "Our worst fear is that a child could be killed.

"We fear for the safety of our children. We all pay our council tax, so we feel our children should be safe getting to school and back."

And she also says other parents are of the same opinion.

"We have one council crossing patrol and he is retiring in December and the council don't want to replace him," explained Catherine. "I spoke to the crossing guard and he told me he had four people not stop for him the previous morning, and this is a big guy with a big florescent lollipop and florescent jacket.

"So if you can't see him, how are you going to see the children? He's stood on a Zebra crossing so people should be stopping regardless of whether he is there or not, but they don't. People don't stop for him on a daily basis.

"He is on the corner where there are double yellow lines but that doesn't stop people parking there."

The lollipop man uses the crossing on Redhill Drive.

A BCP Council spokesman said: “The existing school crossing patrol at this location is seeking to retire and we thank him for his years of service. The current arrangement involves the crossing patroller assisting people across an existing zebra crossing located next to Hill View School.

“Whilst no decision has been made relating to the future crossing provision at this location, in other areas where a change in service has been made following similar circumstances to Hill View, this has not resulted in any untoward issues with road safety.”