Hands off our high-fiving lollipop man, say parents Many parents had come to believe it was on the grounds of "health and safety." But The Telegraph has pieced together the background to the bans and discovered that it they are based on apparently overzealous individual council officials, rather than health and safety law. A Health and Safety Executive spokesman said: "There is no regulation or guidance to do with health and safety issues that would affect this. In fact we can't imagine there would anything referring to high fives in any guidance relating to lollipop men. And there is no mention in national rules - the 43-page School Crossing Patrol Service Guidelines, issued by Road Safety GB, formerly the association of local government road safety officers, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents - of high fives or any other form of greeting by lollipop men. In Mr Allsopp's case the instruction is thought to have been based on advice issued by David Boyer, Warrington Borough Council's assistant director of transportation. Mr Boyer declined to comment. The ban has been greeted with disbelief by parents in the Stockton Heath district of the town, where Mr Allsopp has been ushering children to safety for more than four years. "It's completely ridiculous," said Donna Brazendale, 25, whose children, Kyle, nine, Jake, five, and one-year-old Amy, would look forward to their twice daily greeting from Mr Allsopp. The children have been left distraught by this. They loved doing the high fives and they just don't understand why they can't anymore. Indeed, on Friday afternoon more than one child had to be reminded they could no longer clap their lollipop man's hand while they waited to cross Bridge Lane on their way home after leaving school. "But I liked doing them," they moaned. It has been just over a week since Mr Allsopp was contacted by council officials warning him to stop high-fiving the dozens of children from five different school who use his crossing every day. Since then there has been a groundswell of support for him, with parents starting a petition, launching a Facebook page and writing to councillors in protest. At the same time, the children have decorated a nearby wire fence with cut out paper hands, marked with messages of support for their favourite lollipop man. Claire Phillips, whose daughter Tilly, three, had always looked forward to crossing the road with Mr Allsopp's enthusiastic assistance, said: "Steve's high fives had no effect on the children's safety. He has always been very good at his job. Mr Allsopp's wife Susan, 60, is appalled at the ban. She said: "I think its disgusting to be honest. It's not unsafe and the kids love it. They are heartbroken they can't do it now and so are their parents. Steve has never had a complaint before about they way he does the crossing patrol. In fact being so friendly encourages the children to get to him to cross the road instead of trying to cross on their own. Mr Allsopp, who has five children and four step children, decided not to speak on the matter in order not to jeopardise his position. But his wife explained that he became a lollipop man after retiring as an operations director for a security firm. Before that he had served 15 years in the Armed Forces, on several occasions seeing active duty overseas. It was a tragic episode in his own life that first compelled Mr Allsopp to work with children. In 1974 his first born, Gaynor, succumbed to spina bifida. He was rushed back from a foreign tour of duty in time for her funeral and later, once he had overcome his immediate grief, threw himself into fundraising activity for Great Ormond Street children's hospital, in London. "He's always loved children and he swore when Gaynor died that he would do everything he could for them," said Mrs Allsopp. He's marched I don't know how many miles to raise money for children's charities, and he's given road safety classes to cubs, scouts and school classes. I don't understand why he is now being treated this way. Mr Allsopp had been advised in June not to encourage the children to high-five him as they crossed the road, but his friends claim nothing was said at that stage about doing so at the side of the road. But the matter appears to have taken a more serious turn after the nationwide publicity surrounding the case in Plymouth last month, when Bob Slade, one of their local lollipop men, was threatened with suspension if he continued high-fiving children and subsequently resigned. Shortly after Warrington council received a single complaint about Mr Allsopp's habit of doing the same and decided to intervene. Although high-fiving is not mentioned in the Road Safety GB's school crossing guidelines the ban has been defended by one of its leading officials. Richard Hall, the road safety team manager at North Lincolnshire council, who sits on Road Safety GB's working group on school crossing patrols, said "hugs, pats, high fives, knuckle bumps" or any other form of greeting are a distraction. He added: "Having a line of children high-fiving as they go across the road doesn't look professional and diverts attention from what they are there to do. Even at the side of the road a patrol's attention should be on their job and safety at the site. Warrington council acknowledged Mr Allsopp was a "popular local figure" who "does an excellent job of being friendly and helpful during his work." But a spokesman defended the high-five ban, adding: "At any one time he might be assisting 20 children and parents to cross the road. His training emphasises the need to avoid or minimise distractions. For the children of Bridge Lane, the result has been to rob them of what most regarded simply as harmless fun. "They just don't understand it," said Mrs Allsopp.