Parents at a local school have been voicing their concerns over the lack of safe crossing areas for their children walking to and from the premises every day.

Camp Primary and Nursery School in St Albans has been without a crossing patrol since last year and with no pedestrian or zebra crossing in the vicinity, pupils must twice a day negotiate their way across the busy Camp Road.

Fears for safety have increased during the recent winter months as the low morning sun means visibility for both drivers and pedestrians is restricted. Earlier this month a mother of two children, aged seven and five, at Camp Primary had a near miss when a car mounted the pavement near the school, narrowly avoided colliding with the young family before ploughing into a garden wall.

She said: “The minimum that a crossing patrol or lollipop team would do is make people aware that there was a school there.

“It would also stop people illegally parking on the double yellow lines outside the school, which has become a big problem and is also really dangerous.”

Last week the district council introduced Civil Enforcement Officers to control the parking situation in and around the school buildings and plans to reduce the speed on the road to 20mph are due to be implemented soon.

School governor Tess Machling said: “As a school we like to encourage our children to walk to school and have participated in walk to school week. “However we know many parents are concerned that there is no supervised crossing point.”

The council has been advertising for a crossing patrol for several months but as yet has had no interest.

Tess stressed how important the previous patrol had been for everyone connected with the school.

She said: “It was a real part of the school community and the children loved to say hello and wave on the way to and from school.

“Camp has a real sense of community and our ‘lollipop person’ was very much part of the school family until they had to retire.

“The role would be perfect for someone who is looking for a part-time job; no previous experience is required just someone who is friendly and would like to get the chance to meet people.”

Anyone interested in taking on the role is asked to contact Heather Hill, School Crossing Patrol Team Leader, on 01992 556816.