Irene Reid, (born 1940 or 1941) is a British lollipop lady who, in 2017, was declared the UK's longest-serving lollipop lady. Reid works as a lollipop lady in

Longridge Longridge is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated north-east of the city of Preston, at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble. The nearest vi ...

Ribble Valley Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Longridge and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. ...

, covering the Longridge Church of England Primary School crossing on Berry Lane. In 2003, she was awarded the

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

Lollipop Person of the year. In 2012, she was declared the longest-serving lollipop lady in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and was awarded an MBE by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

for her services to road safety. In 2017, it was estimated Reid had ferried pupils across the road 1.3 million times. In June 2024, Reid received a special award from

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashire is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Blackburn with Dar ...

for her 55 years of service. She told the BBC: ""I've done this job for so long really because of the people in Longridge. They are so nice, they're all behind me." Reid has been outspoken about crossing safety for children, openly criticising plans by Lancashire County Council in 2014 to reduce funding for crossing patrols. Reid also worked with the Longridge Youth and Community Centre for a decade. In mid 2024, she was aged 84 and a great-grandmother of 10. Reid is in a relationship with

Hawklords Hawklords were an English music group active between 1978 and 1979. Members were from Hawkwind, who were inactive during that period, (Robert Calvert – vocals, Dave Brock – guitar and Simon King (musician), Simon King – drums) and a loca ...

musician Harvey Bainbridge. She appeared on the British television

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

Blankety Blank ''Blankety Blank'' is a British comedy game show which first aired in 1979. The show is based on the American game show ''Match Game'', with contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panellists to fill-in-the-blank questions. The ...

'' in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Irene Road safety in the United Kingdom 1940s births Living people People from Longridge People from Ribble Valley (district) Members of the Order of the British Empire