'She let go of her brother’s hand... I remember just screaming'

A mother-of-two who says her daughter was almost ‘seriously injured’ by oncoming traffic outside school has called on her local council to act. Sarah Garcia De Bustos, 47, says her daughter was ‘millimetres’ away from being struck by a car when crossing the road in Cheadle on Friday (October 18).

Sarah’s children, Matilda, four, and Hector, five, go to Lady Barn House School on Schools Hill. To pick their children up, some parents must park across the street on Daylesford Road, as there are not enough parking spaces at the prep school.

Previously, a lollipop man would be on hand to help parents and pupils cross the road. However, at the start of the new school term, he retired and has not been replaced.

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As a result of this, pedestrians say they have been left with no safe way of crossing Schools Hill due to the make-up of the road. Stockport Council say they are in the process of hiring a 'suitable candidate' to become the new lollipop person.

“The only crossing is a pedestrian [crossing] which is at the bottom of Schools Hill, but you can’t use it because there is no footpath on the other side of the road,” Sarah explained.

“So, you have to go to the junction with Daylesford Road and hope the traffic stops. So, what happened is the car stopped on one side to let us go, but then a car on the other side just didn’t stop and my little girl ran out.

“She let go of her brother’s hand. She was very nearly in a serious accident, it was millimetres. I remember just screaming, it’s pure panic because you know there’s nothing you can do at that moment. Afterwards I was full of shock and just burst into tears because I realised how close she’d come to getting seriously injured.

“It’s a matter of when, not if, a child gets seriously injured. You feel like you’re taking the lives of your children into your hands everyday when you cross because you’re having to force your way across the road.”

Louise Higson, headteacher of the Lady Barn House Schools, says she has spoken to the council about employing a new crossing patrol officer after the previous one retired.

“We had a crossing patrol officer who was with us until the end of the summer term,” she told the MEN.

“When we came back after the school holidays he didn’t return. I contacted Stockport Council to ask, where was he? They told me he’d retired, and they are currently recruiting someone new for the role.

“There’s no criticism of anybody. It’s a difficult situation, I understand that the council is trying to recruit. Hopefully we will have someone when we get back after the October half-term.”

Cllr Grace Baynham, Cabinet Member for Parks, Highways and Transport Services, said: “Stockport Council is committed to providing safe walking routes around Stockport, particularly in those areas around schools.

“We are currently running a recruitment process for school crossing patrol officers and hope that a suitable candidate can be found soon for this area.”