Time to say goodbye to Bo'ness lollipop lady Catherine Burton

However, Catherine Burton has been lollipop lady at Kinneil Primary for the last 34 years and there is every chance that she also helped many of their parents too.

The school held a special assembly last week so everyone could pass on their best wishes and thanks for all she had done.

A very special gift which Catherine, who turns 66 on July 9, says she will treasure forever is a book of cards written by all the school’s pupils.

It was a busy week for the school with Bo’ness Fair taking place last Friday and Kinneil’s Sophie Rutherford being crowned Queen.

The new retiree said: “It was a lovely morning. I knew about the assembly as I’d been asked who I would like to attend. My husband was there, my sister and her husband, two of the cleaners and the other lollipop patrol, so it was nice.

"But receiving the book of cards from the pupils was very special.”

Catherine said she first took up the school crossing patrol job when she heard about it just as her youngest was about to become a pupil at Kinneil Primary.

"I hadn’t worked up to that point while the children were young and thought this would be perfect as I would be off over the school holidays,” she explained.

It quickly became a job she loved and from her spot in Jamieson Avenue she helped her nieces and nephews cross over, as well as many children she grew to know well over the years.

After around five years, she helped out when one of the school’s cleaners was off and when the job became permanent Catherine was asked to stay on, adding the role to her working day.

Although Catherine said that she’d love every part of her job on the crossing patrol, problems with her knee over the last three years have given her lots of pain.

She believes now is the right time to retire ahead of her knee replacement operation, hopefully later this summer, and then she will be able to enjoy herself.

Husband George retired last year after working 38 years with Falkirk Council as a road sweeper – meaning between them the couple have notched up 72 years service to their community.

"He likes to go out walking,” said Catherine, “so hopefully when this knee is sorted I’ll be able to join him.”

The couple have three grown up children – son Richard who plays in the Royal Marines Band; and daughters Lisa, who works at Ochil Tower School in Auchterarder, and Catherine, who works at Carrongrange High School and is about to start an Open University course to become a teacher.

They also have two grandchildren, Callen, who is eight, and six-year-old Belle, who they both love spending time with.

Catherine says she is disappointed that Falkirk Council will not be replacing her, saying while there are enough children crossing the road every day, the amount of traffic doesn’t warrant it.

However, after helping children cross the road in all weathers for the last 34 years, she’s decided it’s time to hang up her lollipop and white coat.