Safe Speed Forums

East Riding villagers mount speed patrols

VILLAGERS are to be trained by the police to use speed guns, in a drive to put a brake on motorists.

Pilot schemes are to go ahead in several villages, which could lead to the initiative being rolled out across the East Riding.

Under the scheme, communities are expected to raise about £2,000 to buy a speed gun, which would become the property of Humberside Police.

The police will train volunteers in operating the equipment, as well as safety and managing hostile drivers.

Community speed watch volunteers, who will wear high-visibility clothing, will record the registration numbers of speeding vehicles and pass the details to the police.

Offenders will receive a letter saying they were breaking the speed limit and advising them not to do it again.

Persistent offenders will be warned they may be targeted by police and, if detected speeding, the driver will be prosecuted.

Volunteers from Beeford Neighbourhood Watch will be among the first to trial the initiative in the East Riding.

Six volunteers will be trained and will operate in pairs on the village's 30mph Main Street. Volunteer Gill Cuthbertson, 38, said: "We don't want to have to wait for a child or someone to be knocked down or killed – we want to do something about the speeding traffic now.

"Hopefully, this will be a deterrent for speeding drivers. They won't know what times we will be there. We could be there at any time.

"If we continue to get drivers who are constantly speeding, the police will take action."

Sergeant Dave Jenkins, who is leading the initiative at Beeford, said: "They will be expected to carry mobile phones, so if there are any problems they can phone us.

"Sometimes, police community support officers will be doing it with them."

He insisted the initiative was not policing on the cheap.

Sgt Jenkins said: "It's like Neighbourhood Watch – we are supporting them to deal with local issues."

Pilot schemes are also being considered for several villages in Holderness, including Burstwick and a cluster of villages on the B1445, between Patrington and Easington.

Chief Inspector Paul Cunningham, who is responsible for neighbourhood policing in the East Riding, said with 933 square miles to cover, officers could not be on every road.

Chief Insp Cunningham said: "When tackling community issues we look to involve the community as much as possible, because we recognise people want to be involved.

"When they are involved, they feel empowered, because they are resolving a problem to their satisfaction.

"It also frees up our resources for us to tackle other issues."

Councillor Peter Turner, chairman of the Holderness Local Action Team, is looking forward to the launch of the initiative in his area.

He said: "I think it is going to be marvellous and quite revolutionary if we get it going properly.

i'm curious to know how the police will be targetting regular letter receivers.. (and legally on what grounds ?).. given they dont have enough police to run such schemes themselves.

Persistent offenders will be warned they may be targeted by police and, if detected speeding, the driver will be prosecuted.

The letters don't go to drivers, they go to registered keepers.

You do realise that these schemes were invented to shut up moaning locals and the police really don't give a stuff about them.