The number of school lollipop staff has increased in Monmouthshire, despite numbers falling by almost a quarter nationally.

Figures from May 2016 show a drop of 23 in the number of staff employed by local authorities to assist road safety at schools, meaning 170 have been cut, leaving fewer than 600 staff compared to three years previous.

Monmouthshire County Council is the only Welsh authority to have increased its patrols from five to eight in March 2016, the figures suggest.

The cuts to the vital safety staff have been blamed on cash-strapped councils failing to replace retiring crossing assistants.

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) said budget problems and issues with recruiting new staff made it tough for councils to fill vacancies, with poor weather and ‘commonplace’ abuse from drivers shrinking the pool of applicants.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, seen by the BBC, show all but three of Wales’ 22 councils reported a reduction in crossing patrol staff between 2013 and 2016.

A spokeswoman for Brake, a road safety charity, said the service is essential to guarding child safety.

“School crossing patrols provide a vital service by helping children cross roads safely on their way to school,” she said.

“Local authorities have a duty to promote the use of sustainable transport, especially for children on their way to school, yet the number of lollipop people are declining.”