A 9,000-strong petition was marched to the doors of County Hall as families brought traffic to a standstill in their bid to save Dorset’s lollipop patrols.

A crowd of 120 mums, dads, children and grandparents were given a police escort for their protest through Dorchester and are now expecting to have their voices heard against proposals to cut the funding for the service.

Dorset County Council is looking to save £200,000 by axing 65 jobs and wants volunteers to replace them for free or communities to find alternative funding. Campaigners fear the move will see lollipop patrols disappear and children put in danger.

Eight-year-old Dorset schoolgirl Poppy Case handed over the 9,040-name petition on the steps of the council headquarters alongside march organiser Helen Toft.

Mrs Toft was expecting the number of names to come close to 10,000 by the end of today’s deadline to have the signatures considered in the council’s budget setting meeting on February 17.

She said: “This isn’t about politics or who’s in power or anything like that. It’s ultimately about how children could be injured or killed.

“We are trying to get children walking but this is a step backwards while there are so many councils out there making the right decision.

“We have had support from across the county including schools in Christchurch, Ferndown, Wimborne, Wool, Corfe Castle and Wareham.”

The protesters set off through Dorchester, from 11am on Saturday chanting ‘No ifs, no buts, no lollipop cuts’ and a group of children started their own round of ‘Don’t stop the lollipop ladies’.

Cllr David Crowhurst, vice-chairman of Dorset County Council, received the petition alongside Andy Ackerman, the council’s head of highways.

He said he has children and grandchildren and understood parents’ need to keep their children safe but called on schools and communities to find volunteers.

“We must not talk about children being knocked over,” he said.

“The service at the moment endeavours to ensure there’s a safe route to school for children.

“We are not going to withdraw the service for another year. This is not a done deal until the council approve the detail of the budget on February 17.”