The Bradley Stoke Journal

The Bradley Stoke police team has reported a surge in people volunteering to become members of the town’s Community Speed Watch initiative, with the number involved set to double by the end of the month.

The team was formed with the minimum required six members in July, following several years of appeals for people to come forward (we reported in 2009).

Interest in the initiative was boosted after a 13-year-old child was seriously injured in a collision with a motorcycle on Bradley Stoke Way at the end of September.

PCSOs Jason Green and Kirsty McKillop have arranged for training of Speed Watch volunteers, with ten so far trained, and another six to be trained on 23rd November.

In the three months since setting up at the end of July, 78 motorists have been identified by Speed Watch volunteers as travelling well above the maximum speed limit of 40mph on Bradley Stoke Way, with recorded speeds varying from 47 to 62 mph. All offenders are said to have been sent warning letters about offending.

More: At least five prosecutions for speeding in October »

A Bradley Stoke motorist is claiming that police and community volunteers carrying out speed checks in the area have been improperly “hiding” behind road signs and bushes during their monitoring operations.

Mark Setterfield, 26, claims that members of the recently formed Community Speed Watch team and assisting PCSOs are violating police guidelines that require speed traps to be clearly visible to drivers and says warning signs should be displayed to warn drivers that checks are being made.

Mr Setterfield told The Journal of an incident last Saturday afternoon in which two volunteers and a PCSO were carrying out a check on Bradley Stoke Way, close to the Patchway Brook Round (near Pizza Hut and Aldi). After passing the speed trap, which he claims was not visible because the volunteers and police officer were “hiding” behind the pillars of a road sign, he returned to take a photograph (reproduced above).

He also says that a week earlier he noticed volunteers operating a speed trap “in the bushes” further down Bradley Stoke Way, close to the Willow Brook Centre.

In the latest incident, Mr Setterfield says he asked the PCSO why the team were “hiding” behind the road sign, to which the response was: “we’re not hiding and we needed something to lean on while doing this.”

When the motorist said he would be sending a report to the press, the PCSO said “there’s no need for that” and the team quickly packed up their equipment.

Mr Setterfied said:

“I feel it is disgusting that normal everyday people of the community are put through these unauthorised police tactics.”

Read on for a reaction from Avon and Somerset Police »

Bradley Stoke police say they have caught around 40 motorists breaking the speed limit in Woodlands Lane after a resident raised concerns at a Safer & Stronger Community Group (SSCG) meeting in April.

The meeting actioned the local beat team to carry out speed checks in the area, which were subsequently implemented during the last two weeks in May.

Police say they have prosecuted around 30 drivers for speeding offences and dealt with a further ten offenders by sending them on speed awareness courses.

Elsewhere in the town, a vehicle activated speed check sign is in position on Brook Way (opposite the surgery), following complaints made at an earlier SSCG meeting by parents of children attending Wheatfield Primary School.

Other priorities raised at the April SSCG meeting were noise and vandalism during the early hours in Manor Farm Crescent and motorbikes using footpaths, particularly around Saxon Way and Winsbury Way.

The police say they are looking to set up a Community Speed Watch group and are asking for interested volunteers to contact them to find out more details of what is involved.

More Information and Related Links:

• Bradley Stoke Police Newsletter, June 2009 [PDF, 213KB]
• Bradley Stoke Police (The Journal)