A lollipop lady is being forced to ask for donations after the council stopped paying for her services.

East Sussex County Council stopped Maureen Hood’s £3,500 annual salary in 2014 and since then Denton Community Primary School in Newhaven has had to raise money to pay her.

The school has managed to raise funds in recent years but because council funding and other donations have been stopped, more money needs to be found to pay Ms Hood.

Ms Hood, 67, from Newhaven, said: “We are just trying to raise as much money as we can and I am so thankful to everyone, parents, retailers and others in the area that have pledged to support me.

“It is such a shame that the council has to make these sorts of cuts to vital services which, at the end of the day, are about the safety of schoolchildren on the road.

“If we aren’t able to raise enough money it will be a real shame and I fear that the children could be put at risk.

“We have already seen a child fatality on the road outside the school in the past and the risk of this will only increase if I am no longer there doing my job.

“The road is very busy and for the council to say that the road doesn’t require supervision for children crossing makes no sense to me. It’s just so sad.”

The council has guidelines in place to determine whether a lollipop lady is needed at schools based on the number of cars on average that use the roads outside them, as well as how many pupils are at each school.

Jill Cornforth, Denton Community Primary School’s inclusion manager, said: “We were very fortunate in having funding from waste company Veolia this academic year but that has come to an end. Maureen is a very trusted and familiar face for us, families and the children.

“Maureen had a near miss when a car drove up on the path around her and it was a traumatising event for her and she’s standing in a high visibility jacket with a lollipop. That could have been one of the children.”

The school has started a crowdfunding page to raise £1,500 to partly fund Ms Hood.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/amanda-townsend