Speeding clampdown in Bourne End

4:47pm Thursday 25th September 2008

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POLICE are urging drivers to respect speed limits in Bourne End as a warning before they launch a clampdown campaign.

Officers will be heading out with lazer guns to issue instant fines to motorists caught going over the limit on roads around the village.

The crackdown has been organised by the Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG), made up of residents and representatives from the police and council.

In the next three weeks members of the NAG will be setting up speed indicator devices in the ten worst roads around Bourne End, and monitoring how fast drivers travel on them.

They will then collect the figures together and use them to pick the top four roads for police to target with speed guns later in the year.

Jamie Smith, police sergeant for Bourne End, said: "We don't want to work on ten with the lazer gun, we want to concentrate on the worst four. Whatever comes out of this will be the ones we'll be really hammering."

Sergeant Smith said the crackdown was born out of residents concerns as speeding was one of the three priorities identified by them as an issue for the NAG to deal with. The other areas of concern highlighted by villagers was anti-social behaviour and parking.

He also hoped the work with the indicator devices would help remind drivers of the speed limit changes in the area, including the reduction from 40mph to 30mph on Wooburn Green Lane.

"The Neighbourhood Action Group has been tasked with trying to problem solve speeding so is representing the community," Sergeant Smith said, "At the end of the day please reduce your speed because it's a real community concern.

"I appeal to local residents and the community to be speed aware, to look at the new speed changes and the fact that we will be having an enforcement campaign where people will be getting fines and tickets."

Anyone caught speeding by the lazer guns could be hit with a £60 fine and get three penalty points on their driving licence.