A VALE head teacher has been able to hang up his lollipop after spending months helping his pupils cross the road to school safely.

Charlie Lupton, head of St Barnabas CE First & Middle School in Drakes Broughton juggled his duties as headteacher with being a lollipop man for most of the last school term.

The extra responsibility was forced on him after he was unable to find a replacement for former lollipop lady Alison Davies, who left her job when her son Jonathan finished at the 370-pupil school in June.

The 43-year-old headteacher had to take on the duty in September and, with the help of the school caretaker Gwen Small, made sure his pupils got to school in safety.

"It was an eye-opener on the difficulty of crossing the road there as it's a more dangerous road than it appears, what with parents picking children up in their cars and the like," said Mr Lupton.

Following an appeal to find a permanent replacement, Amanda Clarke, whose daughter Tamara is a pupil at the Stonebow Lane school, is settling into her job after being trained by Worcestershire County Council. "I am delighted that she has taken on the job - and so is the caretaker," said Mr Lupton. "She's doing a great job and she's getting on really well with the kids because she's really friendly with a lovely smile.

"You could say she has taken to the job like a lollipop to sherbet."