Hundreds of Long Itchington residents have signed a petition calling for the introduction of average speed cameras in their village.

Former police officer Keith Turnecliff presented the document to Warwickshire County Council's full council meeting and explained why 561 people were calling for action on the A423 and Leamington Road, both of which are subject to a 30mph speed limit. 

He told councillors: "I worked for Warwickshire Police for over 35 years mainly as a frontline police officer. After retiring I became a member of the local community Speedwatch team and devoted many hours to getting speeds reduced in the village."

He explained that police checks were often carried out but these were nearly always in the same place by the Duck on the Pond pub meaning that Speedwatch checks could no longer be carried out because they would be within two miles of a location regularly used by police.

And he added that after being loaned a police speed gun to do his own covert checks on 1,884 vehicles, he found that 86% of them exceeded the speed limit and that more than 50 were travelling at a speed that would have seen them disqualified from driving.

Mr Turnecliffe said: "The area that causes me most concern is at the entrance to the Two Boats public house on Southam Road where vehicles accelerate down the hill travelling south and those travelling north fail to brake before entering the 30mph zone.

"There has been a fatal accident at this location in the past albeit more than five years ago and two HS2 eight-wheel tipper lorries were clocked at 48 and 55mph at this location, both travelling north. A high speed of 73mph was clocked going south."

He added that other vehicles had been clocked at speeds in excess of 60mph at other locations in Long Itchington – speeds more akin to a dual-carriageway rather than a village road where there were other road users such as horse riders and young children.

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He concluded: "Since I started this petition there has been one fatal and one serious accident on the A423 between Long Itchington and Marton and I believe there will be more fatal accidents on this section of road and in the village before too long.

"It is a sad state of affairs when villages need more people to die in order to get the measures we so desperately deserve. I have looked at all the traffic calming measures available and come to the conclusion that to make the road safe, average speed cameras need to be installed." 

The council's portfolio holder for transport and planning, Cllr Wallace Redford, said: "The county council takes road safety extremely seriously and I will ensure that officers review the location and I will respond to you shortly."

(Image by David Dixon via geograph.org.uk)