Mr Blair's idea was inspired by children singing rap songs

Fred Blair, 63, has been the lollipop man at Earlston Primary School in the Scottish Borders for seven years and takes regular safety sessions to teach pupils how to cross the road properly.

But, after hearing the youngsters singing modern rap songs, the popular lollipop man felt they would be more likely to remember the safety tips if he could make the sessions fun by using something they could relate to.

Mr Blair decided to pen his own song centred around the Green Cross Code and the "Lollipop Rap" was born.

The Lollipop Rap If you wanna have a life And you wanna stay alive You gotta pay attention You gotta be wise Always look and listen Always be alert Don't ever bend the rules Or you'll be a dead cert! Use the Lollipop Man To cross the road to school Don't ever run across And don't ever act the fool Wait on the pavement Always stay calm And the traffic will be stopped By the Lollipop Man Always walk across the road Don't ever run When you're in the playground You can have some fun

Every day as he helps the youngsters cross the street, he sings: "If you wanna have a life and you wanna stay alive, you gotta pay attention, you gotta be wise.

"Wait on the pavement, always stay calm and the traffic will be stopped by the lollipop man."

Mr Blair said: "I thought I would do something that would keep the kids interested and would be fun as well as teaching them the safe way for crossing the road.

"I go into the school each year to teach the pupils how to cross the road safely and thought if I could perhaps use music to put this across, then it would be more fun for them and that they would be more likely to pay attention.

"Hearing all the kids listening to rap music and singing along to it in the playground gave me the idea.

"So I just thought about the most important things I try to get across to the kids and started to write them down.

"It was just a case of writing them down in a way that rhymed and in a way that they could sing along with."