PEOPLE will get the chance to check the speed of motorists who race through rural communities in a new police scheme.

The Speed Watch campaign, just launched by Kent Police, will give parish councils the chance to record the speed of vehicles travelling through their areas.

Volunteers will use speed indication equipment to log registrations of vehicles driving at a speed significantly above the limit, with police ready to take action against drivers if registrations appear several times.

Parish councillors will identify roads on which motorists regularly exceed 30 and 40mph speed limits.

The volunteers, subject to police agreement and health and safety considerations, will then measure vehicle speeds using a speed indication device.

The tripod-mounted device gives a visual speed display to a driver, but is only triggered if the vehicle is travelling at excessive speed.

If a vehicle is found to have been speeding twice within a 12-month period, the registered owner will receive an advisory letter from Kent Police. If the same vehicle is caught three times, the registered owner will receive a further warning letter and possibly follow-up action by officers.

The campaign is being backed by Kent Police, in partnership with Kent County Council, Medway Council and Kent Association of Parish Councils.

Asst Ch Con Dave Ainsworth said: “The focus is upon getting drivers to consider their actions and not on imposing financial penalties.”

It is hoped that parish councils who sign up to take part will be operating from the autumn.

The project leader, Insp Geoff Wyatt, said: “Speed Watch will take the three E’s out of excessive - and put them into education, enforcement and engineering."

Education - motorists who regularly exceed speed limits in rural areas will be given advice about their driving behaviour and the consequences of speeding.

Enforcement – members of the community will record the speeds of vehicles travelling through their parishes in excess of speed limits. Police will be informed about repeat offenders.

Engineering – Kent County Council and Medway Council will identify permanent traffic calming measures and implement them where possible, subject to budgetary and planning constraints.

ACC Ainsworth also spoke to kmfm about the scheme...