SPEEDING drivers in Newton Abbot have been given notice that a new initiative has them firmly in its sights.

Motorists are familiar with seeing volunteers standing by the roadside armed with speed ‘guns’.

Often they slow down to avoid having a warning letter drop through the letterbox or worse, a knock at the door followed by an inglorious moment in court.

But once past the speedwatch zone, wannabe racers often put their foot down thinking they’re out of danger.

That’s no longer the case in Newton Abbot where a new two-team approach has been trialled.

On certain routes, volunteers are being sent to a pair of locations just a few hundred metres apart.

Both groups are armed with speed monitors and report their findings to the police.

Newton Abbot Mayor, Cllr Mike Joyce, is one of those leading the project.

He said: ‘The weakness of the conventional approach is that once drivers pass the speedwatch team they rev up again, thinking they’ve beaten the system

‘What they don’t expect is to see another group of volunteers just up the road.

‘Even though they’re likely to slow down again to avoid getting into trouble, they’ve been made to think that perhaps speeding is something they won’t always get away with and that’s the message we want to drive home.’

Devon County Council is asking residents what they think about a general 20mph limit across Newton Abbot but Cllr Joyce is determined to act, whatever the outcome of the consultation.

‘Everyone who lives in or visits Newton Abbot should feel safe on our roads,’ he said.

‘What we need now is for more people to join our speedwatch team so we can increase the number of routes we’re monitoring.

‘Speeding simply isn’t acceptable and we’re giving fair notice that if you choose to ignore the limits then you’re more likely than ever to be caught.

‘If you’ve got a little spare time, please come and join us.

‘Let’s make speeding a thing of the past and keep our families safe.’

To join the team email [email protected]">[email protected] or call 01626 201120.