Bad weather meant lollipop men and women were told to stay away from their crossings in Merton last week - to the outrage of parents who labelled the situation "health and safety gone mad".

The council's school crossing patrols were told they could not work on the morning of March 10 because of the safety risk caused by high winds.

Even patrols who were willing to go out without their signs were told to stay away.

And according to Merton's head of regeneration and leisure, Michael Owens, the age of some of the lollipop men and women in the borough meant they were unable to work.

"Merton has six patrols, four of which are past retirement age," he said. "With the Met Office weather warning and high winds experienced on Monday, we felt that the patrols would not be able to perform their duties safely.

"We also wanted to avoid any potential accident involving the stop sign, which can easily catch the wind and might injure children or adult pedestrians crossing the road."

One school affected was Hatfield Primary in Lower Morden Lane. Parent Jane Matthews said her mum - who takes her child to and from school - noticed the lollipop lady was not at her usual crossing.

When Mrs Matthews' mother returned to pick the child up that afternoon, the lollipop lady explained she had been told she could not work because of the stormy weather.

Mrs Matthews accused the council of "losing the plot" and putting beuracratic health and safety regulations before the well-being of local children.

She said: "I wonder if anyone gave a moments consideration for the safety of the 450 children who attend the school and rely on her to get there without injury?

"This is sheer madness and the whole point of employing her was because the road is deemed to be a danger to the children."

Mrs Matthews added that the school's lollipop lady had been keen to stay at her post, even offering to work without her stop sign if necessary.

Management at Hatfield Primary were left in the dark about the situation and were unaware the crossing was left unmanned.

The school declined to comment but Mr Owens added: "While the safety of the children is paramount, children remain the responsibility of their parents until inside the school gate."

In 2005, Merton came top in a nationwide survey to find the area with the highest proportion of unmanned school crossings.

The report by fuel company Jet found that 57 per cent of school crossings in the borough were not protected by a lollipop man or woman, compared to a national average of 17.5 per cent.

  • What do you think? Is this health and safety gone mad?