Villagers take Action against Speeding Drivers

5.26.57pm GMT Thu 22nd Jan 2009

Worried villagers are taking action to rid their streets of speeding drivers by showing up "hotspots" for the police.

Volunteers have joined an East Cambridgeshire -wide Speedwatch initiative which will identify drivers who break the 30mph speed limit through the district's villages.

Culprits will receive a warning letter from the police and, if a particular area is found to be a speeding hotspot, officers will decide whether it should be targeted for their own speed checks.

Pauline Wilson, chair of the West Area Neighbourhood Panel and a Haddenham parish and district councillor, said: "Since the panel started meeting 12 months ago, the one issue that residents and councillors brought forward month after month was speeding cars and lorries through our villages.

"Speedwatch is designed to educate the public and is not punitive. It is not a speed gun; it is a piece of equipment that displays the speed vehicles are travelling towards it, if they are going faster than 30mph. No one is going to be hiding in the bushes and jumping out in front of vehicles.

"It is designed to make us all aware of the speeds we travel through villages and I feel this is very important for the safety of our children and elderly trying to cross the roads."

The Speedwatch equipment was piloted in Soham and has now been rolled out across the whole of East Cambs .

On Saturday 16 volunteers from west area - which includes the villages of Sutton, Haddenham, Wilburton, Witchford and Stretham among others - met Ely Police Inspector Alan Savill for training on the new equipment.

Now volunteers are being sought to join the scheme and anyone interested is invited to contact Cllr Wilson by email at pauline.wilson@eastcambs.gov.uk