Lollipop man in UK told it’s unsafe to escort school kids across road

LONDON - A lollipop man in Britain has been banned from escorting school kids across a busy road because council health and safety officials feel it is “not safe” for him.

Ron Warrick, who has been working on the busy road near St Mary’s Primary School in Shenfield, Essex, for 18 months, has been told to wait on one side of the road and not step off the pavement.

Now he has been told to press a button to change traffic lights when kids want to cross the road, and even his lollipop has been taken away as he won’t need it.

But the ruling has been branded as a joke by parents, who feel that even their children are facing danger.

“It’s absolutely bonkers. Whoever heard of a lollipop man who cannot go into the road? It’s like the punch line to some ridiculous joke,” the Sun quoted one mum as saying.

“If the council think it’s too dangerous for Ron to cross the road then why on earth do they think it’s safe enough for our children to go across there?” she stated.

Warrick was stripped of most of his traditional responsibilities over fears he would still be left in the road when the traffic lights turned green because of the number of pedestrians trying to cross.

The school’s headteacher Chris Beazley said he had been informed Warrick had been told to remain on the pavement to give parents a lesson in crossing the road safely.

When questioned in a local meeting Adrian Tidbury, from Brentwood Council’s traffic department, confirmed the absurd ruling behind the decision.

“If Ron does step into the road when the lights are red, with the volume of pedestrian traffic crossing the road, he will still be in the road when the lights change to green,” he said.

“It is at that point when it becomes unsafe,” he stated. (ANI)