The people who are employed to make sure that children are able to cross busy roads safely outside their schools - the so-called "lollipop" men and women - have to be brave nowadays. Their work involves striding into the middle of the road at a suitable moment, stopping the traffic, and letting schoolchildren and those who are accompanying them make their way to the other side.

It is a vital job. Where there isn't one of these individuals on duty, the youngsters and their adult escorts have to take their chance against what can sometimes be a relentless flow of traffic. Unfortunately it is also a job that fewer people seems to be prepared to do.

That is hardly surprising given the experience of Mrs Rachel Lawn, who has finally been driven to quit her job as the lollipop lady outside Hollingwood Primary School in Great Horton. Her account of the way some motorists behave makes disturbing reading.

They are impatient and aggressive. They put their foot down when they see her setting off for the middle of the road, to get past before she can signal them to stop. Even when she is in position and children are crossing, some drivers nudge her legs with their cars to try to force her out of the way. Most incredibly of all, some of them appear to be the parents of the very children she shepherds safely to school every day.

Motorists must learn to behave more responsibly. If they don't, and more crossings become unpatrolled as a result, going to school will become a very perilous undertaking and the accident toll will inevitably rise.