Parents want warden to keep children safe in Bilston

Concerns have been raised about children crossing busy roads by Wilkinson Primary School following claims there have been a number of near-misses in recent weeks.

The school has been without a regular lollipop warden, who was on duty on Wilkinson Avenue at the junction with Walter Road, for several months.

Wolverhampton council says it has a number of mobile crossing patrols who are brought in to cover absences, but the school is considered a 'relatively low priority' compared with other sites in the city.

Emma Griffin, whose two children, eight-year-old Sean and three-year-old Jessica, attend the school, said: "Last week my son almost got knocked over by a car.

"I had to grab him to stop him being hit. He didn't want to come to school the next day, and I was nervous myself."

Elaine Lewis is grandmother of Cameron Riley, aged nine, and Corey Goodyear, 10.

She said: "I was just walking out with the pushchair and a car almost reversed into it. He obviously wasn't looking where he was going or where we were."

Childminder Tina Lafaan, who has six children with her at any one time, including her six-year-old son Connor and three-year-old daughter Holly, said: "It gets very very busy, in both directions.

"You have to be so vigilant when you're crossing the road."

Headteacher Tina Gibbon said: "We have been in contact with the council on an almost daily basis to try and get a replacement crossing patrol in place.

"Unfortunately, we have been told we are not a high enough priority for them, as there are other places that are more dangerous and in more built-up areas.

"But in Bilston at the moment there are a lot of road and building works going on which means that traffic is building up on different routes."

"We understand the council are short-staffed, but we don't want there to be an accident before something is done about it," she added.

A spokesperson for Wolverhampton council said: "Unfortunately, the lollipop man at Wilkinson Primary is currently on long-term sick leave. The council has a team of mobile crossing patrol wardens who cover sites when colleagues are absent – but unfortunately at the moment we don't have the resources to cover every single site and therefore have to prioritise.

"Sites are prioritised – to Government standards – based on factors such as visibility, traffic calming measures in place and volume of traffic. Wilkinson Primary has been assessed as being a relatively low priority site compared to some of our other schools.

"We have been out to inspect the site and visibility at the crossing is very good, there are speed humps in place and other traffic management measures.

"We understand the concerns of parents.

"Clearly the situation is not ideal and we are actively recruiting for new crossing patrol wardens across the city."