THE safety of schoolchildren crossing busy roads is of paramount importance. But it is not always the responsibility of Bolton Council.

Some parents at Sunning Hill Primary School have branded the council "heartless" for not providing a lunchtime crossing patrol near the school. The patrol was axed in council cuts in September.

But David Sutton, head of highways planning and regulations, makes the very valid point that children are not compelled to leave school at lunchtime. And if they need to go home then a parent should come to pick them up.

That is fair enough. If children are going home there must be a someone there waiting for them. It is not too much to ask that parents take responsibility for seeing their children safely across the road at lunchtimes.

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