New cameras for lollipop patrols

A council is giving its lollipop men and women a new weapon to fight aggressive drivers.

Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire has mounted mini cameras on lollipops, one facing forwards, the other backwards.

The pictures can be used as evidence against drivers who hurl abuse or put the children crossing the road at risk.

It is estimated there were 1400 incidents against lollipop patrols last year, from people shouting at them to drivers ignoring the patrol.

Lollipop cameras in action

On rare occasions people have been killed, but there has been a problem getting evidence against drivers.

Legally, a lollipop lady has the same power as a red traffic light.

Stop the car or face a fine and points on your licence.

Vera Irving has been helping children across the road in Huddersfield for 20 years.

She said most people are fine, but recently she had an experience that left her, "sick to the stomach".

If the mum hadn't pulled the children out of the way, they'd have got run over, they'd have got killed Vera Irving, lollipop lady

"The car had stopped. The children stepped out, the mum stepped out. Then the lady just carried on, nearly knocked the children down."

"If the mum hadn't pulled the children out of the way, they'd have got run over, they'd have got killed," she said.

The new system, designed by the Oxfordshire company Routesafe Limited, is not the first system to use cameras but it is the first to mount them on the pole. The pictures are time coded and can be used to prosecute the drivers.

The number of aggressive incidents against lollipop patrols is often cited as one of the reasons for a constant shortage of people wanting to do the job.