Worthing school boy's appeal for crossing

Shaun Digweed's shoulder was broken after he was hit by a car in St Lawrence Avenue, outside Worthing High School.

The 14-year-old had almost made it to the other side of the road when he was thrown up in the air.

Shaun, of Meadow Sweet Close, said: "I am very angry that there was no lollipop person on duty when my accident happened.

"Having someone wearing the high-vis uniform meant drivers could see that people were crossing. When that was taken away, me and my friends had to cross the road on our own."

Mum's horror

Shaun crossed at the exact spot in St Lawrence Avenue where a lollipop man had been working until two weeks before the accident.

His mum, Hayley Pollard, watched in horror as the car collided with her son.

She said: "It was horrifying. I was sitting in my car waiting to take Shaun home and the next thing I knew was seeing Shaun cross the road, and just as he was about to step onto the pavement, a car came out of nowhere and hit him.

"Instinctively, I knew the car was not going to stop in time. It was sickening."

Read the original story about Shaun's accident here.

Patrol shortage

West Sussex County Council urgently reinstated a lollipop crossing patrol at the St Lawrence Avenue exit to Worthing High School, but because of a shortage of crossing patrol staff ,a decision was made before Easter to relocate the person to a first school.

The county council said they were unable to provide a crossing patrol at the school prior to Shaun's accident because another member unexpectedly resigned at short notice.

The St Lawrence Avenue exit is the most-used crossing, with 60 to 70 per cent of students walking home in that direction.

A county council spokesman said: "We do need to have a crossing patrol in St Lawrence Avenue but we simply do not have enough lollipop people to go around."

Anyone interested in the paid crossing patrol position should call Julie Finn on 01245 328016.

Police are still investigating the crash, but no arrests have been made.

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