VOLUNTEERS caught 35 speeding drivers in the first few days of their patrol along one of the area’s most notorious roads.

Fed up with cars speeding through their village on the A113, people in Stanford Rivers have taken up speed guns, bought by the parish council, in the police-backed scheme.

Parish councillor Alan Buckley said: “I’m rather surprised we recorded that many drivers because normally, motorists flash their lights when there are cameras, so others slow down.

“I think people in the village feel quite strongly about the traffic.

“Walking along the pavement when there are big cars speeding through is not very comfortable.”

The 12 volunteers have been out on three weekend sessions shortly before Christmas, recording nine speeding cars in two of the slots and 17 in the third of the two-hour periods.

The registration numbers of speeding cars are recorded after the sessions and the police write a warning letter to the registered owners.

If drivers are caught three times by the volunteers, they face prosecution.

Signs that flash when a driver enters the village too fast and white gates that show motorists they are entering a residential area have also recently been installed.

Mr Buckley said: “It’s the parish council view that the speed guns are one factor in a number of things used to slow traffic down through the village and the A113, which is a problem.

“I think collectively, they have an effect on speed through the village.”