A cost-cutting scheme to reduce the number of professional "lollipop ladies" was approved by Hertfordshire County Council on Tuesday.

At a meeting of the full council, the proposal to replace retiring staff with volunteers at 17 of the county’s 157 crossings was discussed.

The service currently costs approximately £500,000 per year to operate but usage is too low at the sites identified, the county council said.

A motion proposed by the Liberal Democrat opposition asked the council not to proceed at the meeting.

Discussing the motion, Liberal Democrat councillor Malcolm Cowan said he thought the scheme was a "red line" for the council and said "this is a black day for Hertfordshire".

He added: "I thought perhaps naively that school crossing patrols were a step too far for this council. I didn't think this was the sort of area you would be looking at for cost cutting.

"What this council is doing is saying, for the sake of a few thousands pounds each, we will take these crossings out.

"The amount of saving is so trivial it is hardly worth the effort. It puts children at risk and will make some parents wonder if they want their children to walk to school.

"The amount of saving is so trivial one wonders why people want to put children's safety at risk for the sake of it."

The motion was voted down by 48 to 17.

Stuart Pile , cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "In these tough financial times it is right to look at every service we provide.

"We are not planning to remove any crossing patrol from these sites and expect them to continue for many years to come but if a vacancy occurs for any reason we will look at the options.

"Very few of these sites will actually be lost."