ALMOST £50,000 of South Ayrshire’s school crossing patrol budget have been cut over the last three years.

Two-thirds of Scotland’s councils have cut the amount of money spent on lollipop men and women in the past three years. 

South Ayrshire is the fourth highest in region in Scotland faced with these cuts. In 2013 £170,958 but by 2016 this has dropped to £121,379 which is almost 30 per cent.

It claimed that the patrols removed had light traffic or had other safety measures in place. 

This had lead to safety concerns among residents and parents whose children are walking to and from school.

Earlier this year a 13-year-old boy was knocked down on Maybole Road on his way home from Belmont Academy just metres away from a former crossing patrol spot.

The teenager had broken both legs, had a broken arm, required surgery to put a plate on one leg and a cast on the other. He also had injuries to his face with two black eyes and a deep cut to his head.

This has lead to an outcry from the public who want some form of service to be re-instated at the school as there does not seem to be any patrols at the school at all.

Speaking at a public meeting, one local resident, Brendan Ferguson, said: “Lots of children are crossing Maybole road, going and coming from Belmont Academy. 

“There is lots of traffic as loads of parents bring their children to school in the car so they don’t have to cross the road. The children walking to school’s road safety is excellent.

“I have been saying that it is only a matter of time before something happens which it did in September . This could have been very serious. He could have been badly injured. 

“This issue is not going to go away.With the volume of children crossing that road, something similar could happen again. Is it possible to get lights at the shops to allow safe pedestrian access?

“There was a lollipop man but there are no patrols for secondary schools.”

The Ayrshire Roads Alliance have said they will create a pedestrian crossing on Maybole Road but that still leaves other schools in the area without a lollipop man or woman.

A spokesperson for South Ayrshire Council said: “The safety of pupils will always be a top priority so crossing patrols at busy routes with high volumes of traffic remain unaffected. We reviewed the need for crossing patrol staff on school routes where traffic was light and where there are other safety measures such as a pelican crossings. In addition our primary schools keep children in during lunchtime so the presence of crossing patrol staff at these locations was no longer required. No redundancies have been made and our commitment to the ongoing safety of young people attending our schools remains unchanged.”