Hate it or love it, their work acts as a deterrent and has probably saved many lives in town. Yes, we are talking about those men and women in their yellow jackets who very often have to put up with angry drivers too quick to make a rude comment or gesture to show their displeasure at being reminded that, in a town with an estimated population of 7631 residents, of which 2.057 are 60+ years old and 1617 are 0 to 17 years old; with 1.110 secondary school students and 426 primary school students, speeding through our streets isn’t just the most intelligent thing to do.

One thing we all agree on is that a job done voluntarily and very frequently in changeable weather conditions is definitely saving many from having to face the consequences of the irresponsible behaviour by certain drivers who believe they own the road or who see our streets as if they were nothing more than a race track.

With the holiday season on our doorsteps and we all dreaming of spending time with family and friends, enjoying the festivities and planning the year ahead we thought that these volunteers should be given the credit they deserve in relaying to the public the information provided to us by the person who is definitely the authority on this topic and, who better than PCSO Jonathan Sims who has been serving Ottery for the last 4 years.

We welcomed the following message by PCSO Sims which we hope will help achieve the goal set not only by the Community Speedwatch but by their volunteers and everyone involved in producing this article:

Community Speedwatch is a national initiative and here in Ottery we have sites throughout the town and additional schemes running in Alfington, Cranbrook and West Hill.

Our volunteers do such a great job making our roads safer, their visible presence alone changes the way people drive and reduces their speeds. They are there because they all care passionately about making our communities safer. It is a very sad fact that 28,000 people are killed or seriously injured on our roads nationwide each year and speeding is a major contributing factor.

We are very thankful for the part they play in helping reduce these figures.

Our volunteers are fully trained and are part of Devon and Cornwall Police extended Police family.

They use radar technology to capture the speeds, and then all the data is shared with us; we then send letters out to people speeding. We have recently recruited Speed Detection officers who will work with our community speed watch groups; that when you drive past a group there maybe one of are SDO`s working alongside them carrying out full speed enforcement. This means you may not just receive a letter you may also receive a notice of intended prosecution.

The best way to avoid either a letter or prosecution is please stay within the speed limits and know the speed of the road you are travelling on.

If you are interested in joining one of our local groups, please email 30384@dc.police.uk