Councillor calls on the Met and Department for Transport to support speeding motorists enforcement scheme

The council has been involved in lengthy discussions with the Met and the DoT over its proposals to begin a speed enforcement pilot scheme.

The scheme – which would be the first of its kind in London, would see the council supporting police efforts to curb excessive vehicle speeds.

Drivers breaking the speed limit on two busy residential roads would be issued fines by the council instead of the police. This would penalise motorists exceeding the 20mph limit on Wimbledon Park Road and Priory Lane - both subject to numerous complaints from local people about excessive vehicle speeds. In more serious and excessive cases of speeding the evidence would be provided to the Met for consideration of prosecution.

The Wandsworth pilot is designed to support and not replace Met Police enforcement of excessive traffic speeds in the borough – and is a direct response to complaints from local people who support greater levels of enforcement.

But despite having the cross-party support of London Councils – the umbrella group that represents all 32 London town halls - which wants a pilot scheme in the capital to proceed, the Met and civil servants at the DoT have thus far not given the go-ahead.

Transport spokesman Cllr John Locker said: “As councillors up and down the country would testify, speeding traffic is one of the biggest sources of complaints we receive from residents.

“Our pilot scheme, which would be the first of its kind in London, would focus on two residential roads where excessive speeds are known to be an issue.

“At present, only the Metropolitan Police are permitted to enforce speeds limits in London, but they tend to concentrate their resources on main roads and dual carriageways, whereas most of the complaints we receive are about people driving too fast along quieter residential streets.

“We have a simple solution for this, but we need to get the Met and Department of Transport to back the proposals and unfortunately that hasn’t been forthcoming so far.

“I hope these attitudes change and we can all work together to make our streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and all other road users who are put at risk from speeding motorists.”

Traffic studies conducted over an eight-week period in the two roads identified for the pilot scheme showed that one in four vehicles broke the speed limit in Priory Lane while in Wimbledon Park Road it was one in five.