Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen lollipop lady reveals fears child would be killed as council undoes shock relocation policy

Debbie Beattie has patrolled the crossing near Cornhill Primary School for eight years.

Debbie Beattie to lose her job by Christmas due to council budget cuts. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.
Debbie Beattie to lose her job by Christmas due to council budget cuts. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

A lollipop lady in Aberdeen revealed fears a child could be killed under unpopular relocation plans which were later reversed.

Debbie Beattie, 58, has been helping Cornhill Primary School pupils cross Cairncry Road for nearly a decade.

She took over the role from her mother, who retired at 84 after 16 years as the lollipop lady.

But Aberdeen City Council told her in September that the zone she patrols would no longer be considered a “priority one area”, meaning she would have to relocate or lose her job by Christmas.

Debbie Beattie is the lollipop lady on Cairncry Road.
Debbie Beattie has been the lollipop lady on Cairncry Road since 2015. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Mrs Beattie, 58, spoke to us amid a rising outcry that would later see the authority’s SNP and Lib Dem leaders step in to halt the plans.

She said: “I’ve spent the week tearing up.

“I love the kids and the community.

“It actually breaks my heart to think there will be no one there to help these kids cross the road.

“We have traffic lights and on too many occasions have cars gone through the red lights.

“It’s far too busy and far too dangerous.”

Debbie Beattie patrolling the road.
Cairncry Road is very busy with traffic. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Hundreds of parents signed a petition to keep Mrs Beattie, who told us she would be unable to relocate as she doesn’t drive.

She added: “I live in Cornhill and work there.”

Local parents set up petition

Over 300 people signed the petition to keep Mrs Beattie at Cairncry Road.

Part of the petition reads: “Many people have had stories of their children being knocked down by cars not paying attention to the traffic lights or the crossing.

“Please let’s help our lollipop lady save her job and keep protecting our children everyday.”

Community councillor Amanda Stephen with Debbie Beattie. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Mrs Beattie continued: “I understand cutbacks and that things aren’t great.

“But, I earn just over £200 a month and I can’t see how that would make much of a difference.”

After days of distress, councillor Neil Copland told us the cash-saving scheme would be axed.

He said: “The decision to relocate school crossing patrols was something that we stood against in opposition and it’s something that we will put a stop to now we are in power.

“It was a poor decision that upsets our staff and would disappoint our school pupils and we will overturn that.

“We will not be supporting any move that would see school crossing patrollers moved against their will.”