A FRIENDLY lollipop man is watching his waistline this Christmas while helping raise money for children with cancer.
Justin Derbyshire, 37, helps St Oswald’s Primary School children cross the busy Mount St James road in Knuzden.
Instead of the usual gifts, this year he is asking children and their parents to donate a little money instead.
Justin, from Blackburn, said: "As I’m on a diet plan I have said I’ll donate any money the children would have spent on buying me chocolates or wine to a charity.
"I have chosen the CLIC Sargent cancer charity and so far I have raised £85.
"The charity is certainly close to my heart. It’s 12 months since a friend died of cancer aged just 19 and my wife’s sister died of cancer too. This is a way of giving the charity a boost and it will help me to get slim at the same time.
"I started slimming about 18 months ago for health reasons. My grandmother had just passed away and it spurred me on to do something about my own health. I’m still losing weight but I’ve lost three stone already."
And Justin’s Christmas cheer doesn’t stop there.
He’s even dressing up while on duty.
He added: "I still have my regulation uniform on but I have decorated it with lights, a flashing nose and Rudolph antlers."
