Lollipop men and women numbers down across Scotland

A majority of local authorities in Scotland have cut spending on lollipop men and women in the past three years, research has found.

The number of lollipop men and women across Scotland has fallen over the last three years. Picture: Toby Williams/TSPL

Numbers of school crossing patrols have dropped by 75 since 2013, while overall spending is down £810,000 across all councils.

Road safety experts have expressed concern that pupils could be at risk if services continue to be cut back near schools.

Stirling has cut its budget by 50 per cent, while West Dunbartonshire is down 40 per cent.

The figures were revealed in FOI requests made by BBC Scotland.

There are now around 2,100 school patrol officers north of the border.

Despite cut-backs elsewhere, some councils have increased spending - including Inverclyde, where it went up by more than 90 per cent and Dumfries and Galloway, which was up 10 per cent.

A spokesman for Stirling Council, which had the biggest cut to school patrol services, told the BBC the decision was made three years ago following substantial cuts to its budget.

“The majority of these savings were made by removing lunch-time crossing patrols and removing any patrols which duplicated existing crossing safety measures (i.e. pelican and zebra crossings nearby),” he said.

“The safety of our pupils is of the utmost importance and we strive to maintain key crossing patrol services where these are required.”