The number of lollipop ladies and lollipop men in the UK has decreased significantly over the last four years, leading to concerns over children's road safety.
Lollipop people (now known as Crossing Guards) have been helping school children cross the road safely since the 1930s.
But in the last four years, 70 per cent of UK councils have reduced the number of Crossing Guards they employ, according to figures revealed following a Freedom of Information request.
Councils are, on average, employing five less Crossing Guards than they were in 2010, with Portsmouth seeing the highest decline, losing 28 Crossing Guards in the last four years.
Only seven councils have increased the number of Crossing Guards in this time, including Leicester where five more have been hired and Tower Hamlets, which now has four more lollipop people than in 2010.
The Freedom of Information request was made by Allianz Insurance, who also surveyed 1,000 parents to find out how they felt about the reduced number of Crossing Guards.
The majority (60 per cent) of parents said they were worried that the reducing number of Crossing Guards will result in more road accidents involving children, with 63 per cent saying they felt angry that child safety was being compromised.
The research also found that 57 per cent of parents would like the Government to spend money on increasing the number of Crossing Guards outside schools.
Other areas parents would like to see increased Government investment include: traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps or speed restrictions; more pedestrian light-controlled crossings and more road safety education for children.
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