Speed guns handed to villagers

6:25pm Monday 5th May 2008

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THE latest technology is being passed down to a local level to catch speeding motorists in west Oxfordshire.

It is the first area in the Thames Valley force to devolve operations down to Neighbourhood Action Groups, equipping beat officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) with laser guns and speed indicator devices (Sids).

The action follows consultation showing that speeding is a consistent complaint in the district's towns and villages.

Already speed data recorders have been fixed at 20 different roadside sites during the past month, providing police with information about when motorists were more likely to break speed limits.

On the A44 at Enstone, figures showed that the 30mph limit was broken most during the morning and afternoon 'school run'.

Scott Evans, west Oxfordshire Neighbourhood Sergeant, said: "We are able now to be more precise about where we target and to do it more quickly because we have the equipment at a local level."

The district's five Nags now have access to their own laser and Sids.

The laser guns will be operated by neighbourhood police officers who can issue fines and penalty points.

Sgt Evans added: "You would not normally have expected speeding to be one of the priorities people want the police to deal with.

"But from our survey of over 1,000 people in west Oxfordshire it has come up as a consistent priority.

"Locally we did not have the ability to tackle the porblem. Now we have the equipment in our own hands."

The west Oxfordsire initiative comes on the back of the recent national Speed Enforcement Week.

Mark Pilling, road safety constable for Oxfordshire, said: "West Oxfordshire now has the equipment and officers at a local level to give it (speeding) more time."