Call for lower speeds in villages

CPRE say lower speed limits will help save lives

A rural campaign group has called on MPs to introduce 30mph speed limits in villages after it found 70% of county councils have failed to implement them.

A survey by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) found some villages still have 60mph speed limits.

It added that some highway authorities do not know how many villages there are in their area.

The CPRE wants to see an amendment to the Road Safety Bill for a national default 30mph speed limit in villages.

It said this would remove the need for costly and time-consuming signs and speed-change requests.

Currently it costs authorities around £6,000 each time they introduce a lower limit on a case-by-case basis, the CPRE said.

In its survey the campaign found it would be 2027 before Cambridgeshire county council got through all the villages on its list for a review of speed limits.

It also revealed Dorset county council receives requests for lower speed limits almost every week, while Buckinghamshire has more than 100 villages where the speed limit is 60mph.

Paul Hamblin, CPRE's head of transport policy, said: "We know lower speeds save lives and make places less threatening.

"The waiting list for villages needing help from speeding traffic is unacceptable," he said.

"Villages are places where people live - not simply places you drive through. We need ministers to take action by introducing a default 30mph limit."