A BABBACOMBE lollipop lady is appealing to Torbay Council to install a zebra crossing at a busy junction used by hundreds of school children.

Shirley Maggs, 67, from Reddenhill Road, has guided Babbacombe Primary School children across Quinta Road junction for the last eight years, but she says since last Christmas she believes the volume of traffic has nearly doubled and that more school children are walking to school.

"Everyone walks to school, and that is great, but no-one is going to let their children walk to school if it is not safe.

"I am not going to be able to do this forever and if you have another lollipop lady you will still need a zebra crossing, whether I am there or not. It really is a bad junction and it needs something done.

"Near misses are becoming frequent and everyone seems to be in a rush and people want to whizz off.

"Some children and people are just standing there waiting to cross the road and no-one is stopping at all," said Shirley.

She mounted her one woman campaign on Friday, armed with a poster and a petition as she shepherded children across the road.

She added: "I think people want to walk to school but who would let their children walk to school if it isn't safe enough.

"There are twice as many people walking to school as there used to be and we need a zebra crossing."

A Torbay Council spokeswoman said: "Torbay Council carries out regular safety checks with all its lollipop staff to ensure that they are happy and feel safe in their job. We were made aware of concerns, for the first time, at the beginning of last week and relevant officers are already looking into the situation."