Ladybridge to implement a community speedwatch scheme

Police are looking to set up a Community Speedwatch in Ladybridge, following a call by residents for something to be done to tackle speeding motorists.

Under the scheme, residents would record the details of speeding vehicles, with motorists then being contacted by the police. 

Diane Walsh, Chairperson of Ladybridge Residents Association, said: "We have been hoping to do a collaboration with the police for a long time, I am talking years. 

"They have just got back to me and are hoping to do one in our area. We are hoping to get enough people together to help with it. 

"Quite a few years ago the committee looked into doing it ourselves and purchasing the equipment, but there isn't much you can do unless you have police support. 

"The estate can become a racetrack during the summer, because of the ring road around it. It attracts people who are not necessarily from the estate." 

Speed check in Ladybridge (Image: GMP)

She added: "We are waiting for people to come forward and volunteer.

"It can be in the summer more so than the winter, but also raising awareness of the speed people are doing. 

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"Our ring road has been reduced to 20mph, it is not everybody, but it only takes a handful of people. We have got a lot of bends on the estate. 

"What we have been told is in the past, in the areas it has been implemented, it has had a positive impact on awareness of speed in the area." 

Diane added: "Police have said they are looking at implementing this now. 

"I said for them to give us a couple of weeks to get people together." 

Diane and the Ladybridge Residents Association ask anyone interested in taking part to contact them in their Facebook group, linked here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1089438464437750.  

Greater Manchester Police have been approached for comment. 

This comes after GMP announced earlier this month that speedwatch schemes would be implemented in five hotspot boroughs, including Bolton. 

The other boroughs named were Manchester, Stockport, Tameside and Wigan, where residents are to be trained to record the details of anti-social drivers on their roads and to report them to the police to take action accordingly. 

In 2019, a community speedwatch on Ainsworth Lane in Tonge Moor caught 150 speeders in 50 minutes. 

The community speedwatch group were monitoring the 20mph area on Ainsworth Lane, close to Moorgate Primary School. 

In just one 50 minute patrol, the group saw more than 150 people travelling over 26mph.