Shropshire residents try to slow down speeders
Villagers are so worried about speeding traffic they have taken to putting up their own 40mph signs – despite the fact the road has a 60mph limit.
But now Shropshire Council has taken down the handmade signs along the country road – because officers say they're a hazard.
Members of the Wheathill Concern about Dangerous Driving Group in South Shropshire say they are angry the signs have been removed, but council bosses argue although they are looking at dropping the speed limit, the unauthorised signs cannot stay.
Ann Sutcliffe, chairman of the campaign group, said as motorbike season began with the nicer weather, villagers had taken matters into their own hands out of desperation.
Formed last year, the group is campaigning for a speed limit of 40mph on the B4364 between Ludlow and Bridgnorth and financial assistance to install road signs and other traffic calming measures.
Mrs Sutcliffe said there had been multiple accidents and near-misses in the past five years and she had heard of one motorcyclist boasting of going 125mph along the rural road.
She said: "I have heard stories to make your blood run cold. One resident is too afraid to walk her baby in his buggy to visit her mother who lives only next door.
"Another is afraid to install a gate into her drive because she simply does not dare to leave her car in the road for 30 seconds and get out of her car to open the gate.
"Another resident, while riding her horse, had her stirrup clipped by the wing mirror of a speeding car.
"Many of us, me included, feel unable to walk to the pub from our homes, but drive the 400 yards to get there, because it is just too dangerous.
"We believe that it is simply a matter of chance that no walker, rider, cyclist or village resident tending their garden has not been killed."
The group has raised a 207-signature petition to get the speed limit on the road changed, backed by Wheathill Parish Council.
But Simon Jones, Shropshire Council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "The temporary unauthorised campaign signs in Wheathill were removed primarily because they represent an obstruction under the terms of the Highways Act and, as a result, may hazard traffic safety.
"Shropshire Council has agreed to investigate the request made by the parish council to reduce the speed limit from 60 to 40mph.
"Further progress on the level of a new limit and its termination points will depend on consultations."
