A father has told how his six-year-old son was hit by a car while walking home from school, just a week after the borough’s lollipop ladies were axed.

Paul Donnelly’s son Brendan was knocked down as he used a pelican crossing at Wood Lane, Dagenham, at around 3.30pm on Friday.

“He’s been told to cross with his mum,” Paul explained.

“She’d gone to cross, and a girl that was behind him got hold of his arm.

“By the time he got away, or the girl let him go, the car was there.”

Paul explained that the driver of the car was only going at 30mph, the road’s speed limit, and stopped at the scene to make sure Brendan was alright.

The Southwood Primary School pupil was taken to Queen’s Hospital with minor injuries and discharged later that evening.

Dad-of-three Paul said. “He’s a lucky, lucky boy. He was shaken up more than anything.”

But he added that had the lollipop lady still been in place, the accident would not have happened.

He said: “It’s a main road through Dagenham, and a lot of cars would see the yellow sign and stop.

“She was there for three years, and I don’t think a child has been hit in that time.

“She was good at her job, and all the children liked her.”

A council spokesman said: “We are very sorry to hear about this accident and we hope the little boy is okay now.

“We understand why the lollipop service was popular with parents which is why we tried to save the service for years, included appealing to local businesses and schools to step in and fund their local crossing patrol.

“But on the whole this sadly proved to be unsuccessful, which is why we had to make the difficult decision to stop the service as we’re forced to save tens of millions of pounds thanks to government’s cuts.

“While we are glad to hear the driver stopped, this incident is a timely reminder that drivers can’t be too careful on our roads.”