WORRIED parents have been told their children will have to get across a busy road without a school crossing patrol for the foreseeable future.

Parents of children at Corporation Road Junior and Infants Schools in Darlington have been told that there is no-one to replace their regular school crossing patrol warden who is off work ill.

The borough council has said it does not know when the warden will be able to return to work and it cannot guarantee when another crossing patrol will take over her duties.

This means parents will have to see their own children across the busy Corporation Road until another warden can be freed up to take over.

This has angered parents who say it is too dangerous for youngsters to cross the road without help.

One parent, Shaun Madderson, said: "I think it should be a priority of the council to make sure busy roads have crossing patrols on them.

"A lot of children of all ages cross that road and if there isn't a warden to stop the traffic I can imagine someone will get hurt or even killed. Parents can walk with their children but they can't stop the traffic and when there are so many people milling about that is what is needed."

A council spokeswoman said that a team of reserve crossing wardens was already working elsewhere in the town to cover roads which had been left without a patrol.

She said: "It is not the council's statutory duty to provide school crossing patrols and we would say it is ultimately the parents' responsibility to make sure their children are safe getting to and from school.

"But where we do provide the service, we always try and provide a replacement if someone can't complete their duties.

"In this case the lady from Corporation Road is just too ill to work and our replacement wardens have already been deployed elsewhere in the town."

Anyone interested in becoming a school patrol - the job is open to adults up to the age of 75 - should contact (01325) 388783