WOODFORD GREEN: Residents slam police speed operation (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WOODFORD GREEN: Residents slam police speed operation

11:39am Sunday 31st July 2011 in News By Joe Curtis

A POLICE operation to catch speeding drivers was branded a farce.

Officers found 14 per cent of motorists in Hillside Avenue, Woodford Green, broke the 30mph speed limit during the friday evening operation, which took place between 5pm and 7pm.

Six officers recorded 253 vehicles on July 22, but concluded speeding was ‘below expectations’ and no worse than on other roads.

Police admitted residents expressed concerns at the timing of the operation, saying most of the speeding happens later at night, and questioned a decision by officers to wear high-visibility jackets, which could be spotted from distance.

Roger Farmdon, who lives in the road, said: “The whole operation was meaningless - a farce.

“Motorcyclists and some car drivers come down our road at above 60mph. It doesn’t happen all the time but very regularly and it’s quite frankly very dangerous.”

Sgt Chris Chandler said: "[We]conducted a routine speed gun operation based on the concerns of local residents, some of whom were present during the operation as observers.

"The sighting and timing of the operation were based on what we were told. At no point prior to the operation did anyone suggest to us the problem was worse in one direction rather than the other, otherwise this would have been taken into account.

"Obviously we will take these concerns on board as the reason we conducted the operation in the first place was to address the small number of complaints we had received.

"I make no apology for looking at traffic speeding towards an area of greater pedestrian density with shops and a tube station during peak times ... this appeared logical to me based on the facts we were given."

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