ANXIOUS parents today urged the city council to act before a child is killed trying to get to a new school.

ANXIOUS parents today urged the city council to act before a child is killed trying to get to a new school.

Hundreds of pupils at Oakwood Primary in Easterhouse have no patrol to help them cross a major road.

And parents fear it's only a matter of time before a child is knocked down and possibly killed.

The 401-pupil school - a merger of Blairtummock, Bishoploch, Commonhead, Rogerfield primaries and St Clare's Day Nursery - opened only last month.

But the number of children crossing busy Drumlanrig Avenue to get to their classrooms every day has sparked major concerns.

When the Evening Times visited the school at 3pm our photographer caught several youngsters trying to run across the road into the paths of cars - with no patroller to stop them or the vehicles.

Sandra Falconer, 56, a retired shop worker who lives opposite Oakwood, said: "Every morning and afternoon hundreds of people let their kids out of cars and there are children constantly running across the road.

"It is a much bigger school now because it incorporates four primaries, but there is no crossing and not even a Twenty's Plenty sign.

"There should be a patrol outside the school because it is extremely dangerous.

"But nothing will be done until a kid gets hit by a car and then it will be too late."

A 31-year-old mother-of-two, whose seven-year-old daughter attends the school, said: "It gets really busy here and I fear for her when she is crossing and there is no lollipop patroller to help her.

"Kids are always nipping across the road and putting their lives at risk. The least the council can do is put up a sign before someone gets killed."

Crossing patrollers are in use in nearby Lochdochart Road and Lochend Road, where another new primary, St Benedict's, is situated.

But the council has not employed any on Drumlanrig Avenue where Oakwood - built on the site of the former St Clare's Primary - is based.

Glasgow has long struggled to recruit lollipop staff for schools across the city and recently had around 80 unfilled vacancies.

The shortage has partly been blamed on the need for staff to work for short periods in the day, separated by long unpaid periods.

It has meant parking attendants in the past have had to be introduced at some schools in the city to fill the gaps.

Schools that already have a pelican crossing have had their lollipop people axed. Other recent changes have involved changing the patrollers' hours to start early in the morning but skip lunchtime.

The switch in hours is designed to cater for increasing numbers of youngsters who use breakfast clubs at 8am and the dwindling numbers going home at lunchtime.

Oakwood Primary is one of several new-build primaries as part of a £260million school shake-up prompted by falling rolls and crumbling buildings.

It has resulted in the closure and merger of dozens of primaries and building 25 new schools.

Councillor Catherine McMaster, who holds her surgeries at the Oakwood Primary, said: "The school has just opened, so I am distressed this is happening.

"I was assured there would at least be drop-off zone outside the school. If this is not happening I will speak to the education officers concerned."

Glasgow City Council said it would investigate the crossing provision and introduce any changes if parents felt they were necessary.

A spokesman said: "In advance of a school being built, land and environmental services will work with the developer, police and existing schools to assess what measures are likely to be necessary.

"However, it can be difficult to judge people's travel patterns in this kind of situation.

"If parents feel there is a need for a crossing - and give us information about where they see a problem - we will be happy to take another look."