THOUSANDS of children in York are being forced to cross dangerously busy roads without the help of lollipop men and women.

Impatient and aggressive drivers have been blamed for putting people off the job - with recruitment problems leaving ten out of 39 school crossings in the city unmanned, so more than 2,500 pupils cross without an official patrol.

Huntington Primary School had a supervised crossing until Allan Bull was signed off on Monday for a fortnight with a back injury after diving out of the path of an oncoming car.

Head teacher Roger Jackson said it left their 340 pupils "vulnerable". He said there was no pool of people to cover, even in emergencies - yet calls for parents to help had met with "a deathly silence".

"People are too busy or don't want the responsibility," he said.

A national survey by Jet has revealed most lollipop people have been subjected to road rage, leading to a 17.5 per cent shortage of patrols nationally.

Keith Hyman, pictured, Huntington Primary's chair of governors, highlighted "massive abuse" by drivers ignoring speed limits and parking illegally. He said: "Allan is getting abuse from very aggressive drivers who don't want to stop.

"They are putting children and the school crossing patrol at risk."

The incident outside Huntington Primary last Thursday afternoon took place despite flashing warning lights, speed signs, road humps - and Mr Bull's raised crossing patrol stick.

"I was halfway across," said Mr Bull. "I looked down and saw a car bonnet. I jumped about four feet to the side and twisted at the same time to get out of the way. You don't think about it. It is about self-preservation. I don't know how he missed me. The vehicle didn't stop. He was waving his arms as if I was in the wrong. I was shaking like a leaf. I have done my back in."

Two years ago Mr Bull was forced to avoid another driver using a mobile phone as she drove towards him.

Mr Bull said he was also subjected to verbal abuse including swearing from drivers. "It puts me off. I have my own life to lead and my own son to look after," he said.

Chris Horn, whose love of the job has seen her patrolling outside Osbaldwick Primary School for 34 years, said: "We are there for the children."

But she understood concerns about road rage, having also been sworn at for asking drivers to move on when they park in hazardous places.

"Quite a few don't abide by the 20mph speed limit," she added. "Some think it's fun to whizz over the speed hump and see how fast they can take off."

A council spokeswoman warned that drivers who failed to respond to the patrol were breaking the law and would be prosecuted.

But she said the recruitment situation was better than last year. She said: "All pupils in the council's primary schools receive pedestrian safety training to teach them the skills to use pavements and roads safely.

"However, we would also like to recruit more school crossing patrols and would urge anyone who is interested to contact the council to discuss the role in more detail."

Updated: 09:38 Wednesday, October 05, 2005