The council is to press ahead with controversial plans to axe nearly half of the borough's school crossing patrols, the Croydon Guardian can reveal. 

Nine 'lollipop' officers were served with redundancy notices on Wednesday, Croydon Council confirmed today.

The authority is to scrap all patrols where other safety measures, such as zebra crossings, are also  in place, saving £60,000 from its budget. 

Ten patrols will be scrapped from the end of the current chool year, although one of those is already vacant. 

June Rixson, of Shirley, received her redundancy letter just five days after named on the Queen's birthday honours list for her service the community.

Mrs Rixson, 80, has served as the lollipop lady in Wickham Road for 35 years, helping generations of children from St John's Primary Church of England Primary, Shirley High and Edenham High schools stay safe.

She was awarded a British Empire Medal on Friday last week.

Mrs Rixson said: "We knew it was on the cards, so it didn't come as a great surprise. 

"I had intended to retire anyway, so I am going when I wanted to even though the decision was made for me. But there are others who I feel sorry for because maybe it is not what they wanted."

She added: "I will miss the job, definitely. I have really enjoyed meeting all the people and seeing them grow up. Everybody has been very nice. But it is another chapter and you just have to say 'that's that' and move on." 

The crossings which will lose their patrols are: 

• Elmwood Junior School, Lodge Road, Croydon
• Oasis Academy Shirley Park, Long Lane, Addiscombe
• St John's/Shirley High, Wickham Road, Shirley
• Park Hill Junior School, Stanhope Road, Croydon
• Broadmead Junior School, Sydenham Road, Croydon
• Broadmead Junior School/The Crescent, Northcote Road
• Woodside Junior School, Morland Road, Woodside (x2)
• All Saints CofE Primary School, Upper Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood
• Aerodrome Primary School, Goodwin Road, Croydon

The cuts are likely to provoke anger among parents, many of whom have staged protests since the council revealed its plans in December, and concern headteachers. 

The council, which says it is forced to find savings due to central government budget cuts, has insisted pupil safety will not be compromised as only patrols where there is alternative provision will be axed.

But Mrs Rixson said: "Where I stand, by the Shirley Inn, if the children used the lights correctly it could be quite safe, but children do not always do what you want them to do and often dive across the road."

A Croydon Council spokesman said: "We didn’t take this decision lightly and it was only after thorough examination of the results of the risk assessments that we finally reached our conclusions. 

"All of the crossing patrols that are being ended are in places where there is a zebra crossing or traffic lights and our rigorous risk assessment against national criteria showed these to be safe without a crossing patrol. 

"Parents and teachers understand the importance of ensuring children have the right life skills to ensure they stay safe when out on their own and our road safety team continues to work closely with all the borough’s schools."

Are you one of the affected lollipop officers? Is your school affected? Contact chris.baynes@london.newsquest.co.uk or call 0208 722 6351.