AN EIGHTEEN-year-old from Okehampton is appealing for drivers to slow down in the town, after her kitten was killed by a speeding motorist.

Holly Barton, a care worker at Lynridge Care, says next time, the victim could be a young child.

Holly's six-month-old kitten Moshy was hit by a car on the evening of Wednesday March 16 in De Brionne Heights.

She said: 'The person that did it slowed down, opened their door, and then drove off.

'My little sister hasn't stopped crying, and I would hope that somebody would have a conscience and apologise.'

Holly feels speeding is a problem in Okehampton, and she is worried that next time, the incident could be even worse.

'I hope this just makes people slow down. I don't understand why people don't think about the fact that there could be children or pets in a residential area.

'If it wasn't my kitten, it could have been a small child. People just don't think.'

Anti-social driving and speeding is one of the top priorities identified by Okehampton Police.

PC Matt Evans, neighbourhood beat manager for Okehampton Police, said: 'By and large people do go too quickly through the 30mph zones in town. Speeding is one of those ongoing issues that just never goes away.

'The vast majority of drivers who speed wouldn't dream of punching someone in a pub or stealing from a shop, but the truth is you can do a lot more damage through dangerous driving.'

PC Evans said traffic officers do carry out speed checks around the town, and cars are regularly stopped for openly flouting town speed limits.

He added: 'A lot of the residential roads around town are 30mph zones, but that does not mean 30mph is in any way appropriate — 30mph is the absolute maximum speed that, in perfect conditions, you can do within the law. Most of the time, 30mph is not at all appropriate in a residential street.'

Holly, who has been driving for a year, said: 'As soon as I drive into a residential area, I immediately assess any risks that could be possible.

'I may be eighteen, but I would automatically slow down on a residential road, and it's annoying when people blame all bad driving on young people.

'In this case, it wasn't some young lad in a souped up car, but an older adult in a family car that came and killed a young person's kitten.'

Devon and Cornwall Police have just launched this year's Operation Vortex, a highly successful initiative aimed at dealing with drivers who make roads unsafe.

The operation will focus on poor driver behaviour, mobile phone use, not wearing seat belts, drink driving, and excessive speed.

Last year, the operation saw in excess of 200 offences dealt with by the team.