Parents of children at an Ayrshire school fear the removal of crossing guards has left their kids in danger.
Ahead of the start of the 2025-26 term, the head teacher at Lainshaw Primary in Stewarton shared a message from facilities management officer Stuart Nicol, announcing that there would be no school patrol crossing officer outside the gate on Kilwinning Road.
The update stated that such a person had been deemed "not necessary" due to traffic calming measures in the area.
Parents dispute this, however, and a petition to bring back a crossing guard has so far had close to 500 signatures.
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Jenna Gillies, who started the petition, told The Herald: "Five years ago, there were three people and they'd quietly removed the other two.
"There was one remaining at the actual school junction and starting this term we got a note to say that person had been removed as well citing traffic calming measures.
“There are two separate places along the road where they’ve widened the pavement because the kids spill out of the gate and that definitely made it safer on the pavement which is why they’re saying we don’t need a crossing patrol person.
“But actually what it means is there are more cars, and theoretically you have to slow down at the school junction but what actually happens is people speed up to try and beat other cars through.
"You also have farm vehicles coming along that road, big milk lorries and tractors. Stewarton is urban-ish but you have more different vehicles than you would in a city school.”
Shona Logie said: "They narrowed it a couple of years ago for traffic calming measures, and to be honest it’s made the situation much worse because you’ve not got cars waiting, priorities going different ways, and because it’s on a bend you can’t always see who is coming.
“There’s a constant flow of traffic, no traffic lights, no zebra crossing so the kids have to rely on there being a space in the traffic to cross.
“It’s an accident waiting to happen, there are massive lorries and buses going along there."
Caitlin Jackson said: "It’s just a bit of a rat-run, and it’s really unsafe without a lollipop lady.
“We have contacted East Ayrshire Council, and the response I got was that there was a formula and they’d decided Lainshaw don’t need this."
A number of local councils have cut the number of crossing guards in recent years, with local authorities facing a £647m budget shortfall this year according to the Accounts Commission.
A Freedom of Information request in July this year revealed that school crossing patrollers had dropped from 328 in Glasgow in 2021 to 244 in 2025.
North Ayrshire Council removed a number of crossing guards in its latest budget to save £92,000 while City of Edinburgh Council considered and ultimately rejected plans to cut posts at 17 sites in the city.
Last month the Glasgow Times reported that parents had taken on the role at Our Lady of Loretto Primary to guide children across Dumbarton Road due to cuts and fears over safety.
At Lainshaw, the school's head teacher and janitor have donned hi-vis jackets to cross the children before and after school.
Ms Gillies said: "This isn’t in their job description but they feel they can’t not do it.
“I don’t think the head teacher can do anything about the decision, and anyone who has contacted the council directly has either had no reply or been told it’s parental responsibility to get your child to school safely.
“Obviously there’s parental responsibility but primary four to seven kids are encouraged to walk to school themselves and they have cycle to school weeks.
“It’s a developmental milestone that children start to walk to school themselves, especially in a day and age where kids are losing those, I don’t think there’s a great argument for saying you should be walking your P7 to school because there isn’t a safe crossing.
“There are plenty of other junctions that are terrible, the two they’ve taken the crossing officers from are no better which is why the janitor is managing them.”
Ms Logie said: "It just feels like it’s being chipped away, when my eldest started there was a lollipop lady at the cross, there was a man at the Centre on Standalane who would cross them there and take them down to the mini roundabout and cross over there, that’s now gone as well.
"They’ve got the janitor for the school there now acting as the lollipop person. He does so much, he works incredibly hard and he’s now having to take time out to go and act as lollipop person.
“When it’s snowy and icy he’s responsible for making sure there’s a clear, gritted route for the kids to get into school.
“So I asked what will happen on those mornings when he’s doing that and he said there won’t be anyone to cross the kids, it’s beyond a joke.
“Even with a lollipop person we’ve seen accidents almost happen with a kid on that corner, it’s incredibly dangerous not to have one."
While it's common knowledge that local authorities are facing budget pressures, the Lainshaw parents question whether there are any real savings being made.
Ms Jackson said: "It’s probably £120, it must be an 10-hour contract give or take two hours each day. They can’t be saving a huge amount of money."
Ms Logie said: "For what the crossing patrol must get paid I can’t imagine the savings are significant enough to justify the danger they’re putting the kids in when they’re crossing.
“It’s just not worth the risk of a child being injured, even if it’s minor. I think the council are playing fast and loose with our kids’ safety for what isn’t a significant saving."
An East Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: "We are aware of issues raised regarding recent changes to the school crossing service and are currently reviewing the road traffic management arrangements within the Lainshaw area.
"This is involving engagement with elected members, school representatives, Ayrshire Roads Alliance and Facilities & Property Management staff."
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