Community Speed Watch teams catch hundreds of drivers breaking the speed limit in Dorset

A day of action involving 35 community speed watch teams has caught more than 300 drivers breaking the speed limit in Dorset.

Hundreds of volunteers took part in the campaign on Tuesday (7 September) at sites on the counties A and B roads - mainly in villages.

Drivers breaking the speed limit are sent warning letters, with persistent speeders facing potential prosecution. 

Volunteers us a radar gun to monitor the speed of vehicles. Those caught over the limit have their details recorded and those details are then forwarded to Dorset Police which contacts the driver. Top speed recorded on the day was 62 in a 30 limit in Westbourne.

• Martha Perry, Community Speed Watch Coordinator

Martha Perry, Community Speed Watch Coordinator said: "Dorset Road Safe works in partnership with the local authorities so we're able to highlight particular highway issues."

"It gives the community more of a voice if they have a Speed Watch team here.

"It does also allow officers to use our community speed watch sites as additional sites for their own monitoring."

• Paul Curry, Community Speed Watch volunteer

Paul Curry, Community Speed Watch volunteer said: "There's a hardcore of drivers that are never going to respond to anything so they're the ones that we're there to catch when all is said and done.

"We don't want to catch people, we're there to slow them down."