A Biggleswade school lacks a school crossing warden because a recruit pulled out just before term started, Central Bedfordshire Council has said.

Parents at Edward Peake Church of England VC Middle School, off Potton Road in Biggleswade, have been expressing grave concern since school started without a lollipop person on duty.

A concerned parent contacted the Comet to report the lack of road safety outside the school, saying it appeared the council had “stopped a lollipop person there for some reason, after removing the traffic calming earlier this year”.

“This is crazy when we’re talking about children’s safety,” she said.

“When you do contact the council, they don’t get back to you or reply.

“We really need a crossing controlled by traffic lights, as the cars come so fast from the roundabout by the time they get to that point.

“They’ve building a pub there too, which won’t help the car situation.

“You can go watch the kids crossing after and before school, and it’s like watching them play Chicken – they’re waving the cars down to ask them to stop, as they’re scared to cross.

“It’s madness and I can’t believe no-one will do anything.”

Central Bedfordshire Council insists it has not taken away the lollipop person role at Edward Peake, and is trying to get a new recruit after being let down just before term started.

A council spokeswoman said: “We do take children’s safety very seriously. We’d like to apologise for the current situation.

“The school crossing person we had recruited unexpectedly let us down just ahead of the start of the new school term. We have not discontinued the role.

“We are working hard to recruit a new school crossing person into this role as quickly as possible, and we are in regular contact with the school about our progress.

“Any updates will be passed on to the school, who will also inform the parents.”

Contacted by the Comet, a spokeswoman for the school said: “It is difficult to comment as we know very little.

“We were informed that there was no traffic control warden by pupils and parents on the first day of term.

“We have been advised that it could take six to eight weeks for a replacement to be found.”