Lollipop men forced to wait
Budding lollipop men and women are having to wait months before starting work at school crossings despite there being scores of vacancies for patrol staff across the West Midlands, it has been claimed.
Around ten per cent of the 397 crossing areas outside schools across the Black Country and Staffordshire were without cover last autumn.
But one would-be lollipop man Rob Powell, of Darlaston, claims he is still waiting to take up his spot despite being offered a job and passing checks.
Mr Powell contacted Walsall Council in mid-December after the authority advertised for men and women to patrol crossings across the borough. But he is still waiting to start work.
And Walsall is not the only council to be accused of dragging its feet. Last year parents at St John's First School in Blakebrook Road, Kidderminster, organised a 200-signature petition when an applicant waited more than four months to start work after being caught in a backlog of criminal checks.
Mr Powell said today: "Walsall Council is showing absolutely no urgency in making sure these crossing posts are actually manned.
"There were five other successful applicants at the induction day I attended, and I can only assume they have been messed around similarly."
Only last month the council said it needed a further 20 lollipop wardens, who earn almost £6 an hour.
Mr Powell, aged 42, said there had been a string of delays.
He returned his application form before Christmas only to be told several weeks later that it had been lost and he must fill out another.
He attended an interview in January and was told on the same day he had got the job but he must first undergo an induction training course.
Mr Powell, of Rough Hay Place, was surprised to be called for the training day more than four weeks after he was offered the job but went along on February 20 as requested and collected his uniform.
Walsall Council spokesman Dan Slee said: "We do not comment on individual staffing matters."
