A van struck and killed a former lollipop lady on a road she had campaigned to make safer for local schoolchildren. Irene Allen, 87, was killed in a car accident on Walmersley Road in Bury last Wednesday (December 6). She died five days later at Salford Royal Hospital. Ms Allen, Bury’s first lollipop lady, lobbied local politicians to improve road safety on the busy Walmersley Road in the 1960s, according to her daughter. Melanie Allen stated, ” “Irene succumbed to her injuries on Sunday, December 11th. Irene never fully recovered consciousness, despite the best efforts of Salford Royal Rescue and ICU teams. “Always putting others first, Irene complained to Bury Council in the mid 1960s about the lack of safe crossings for schoolchildren across the busy Walmersley Road, and became Bury’s first lollipop lady. This tragic irony continues to haunt us today.” Irene Allen leaves behind one daughter and three children. Melanie added that she is also remembered by “a whole community that misses her sunny personality.” The van driver has yet to be apprehended by Greater Manchester Police. They are requesting that anyone with footage from the area in the moments before the collision come forward.
