MARY Tavy residents who have had enough of traffic speeding through their village had a chance to voice their concerns last Wednesday.

Around 150 residents turned out to a public meeting in the Coronation Hall to put their suggestions to representatives from the police, county highways and West Devon Borough Council.

Many felt the speed limit signs on the stretch of A386 through the centre of Mary Tavy were inadequate, and a serious accident was inevitable if a solution was not found.

Brian Barrass, who lives in the village, had monitored the speeds of vehicles through the village for 20-minute periods on Sunday mornings.

He found 23% of vehicles to be in excess of the speed limit, which equated to about 30 vehicles in each 20-minute interval.

He said: 'I have been overtaken three times doing 30 miles an hour past the post office recently. Please can we do something about it?'

Fellow resident Paul Williams believed the answer was a proper traffic calming system running through the village.

'I dont believe in enforcement,' he said. 'The police have got better things to do than stand out there pulling people over.

'I feel to get peace of mind in the village we need to have paved islands with bollards from the cattle grid at Blackdown to the Mary Tavy Inn.

'I know that's expensive but if you consider the costs of enforcing the existing speed limit, the cost of this would be a lot less.'

Lorraine Jones believed a crossing by the bus stop would help. 'I feel threatened by the cars and lorries going past,' she said. 'It's an accident waiting to happen.'

Another resident said speed cameras were not the answer because motorists speed up as soon as they have passed them.

Police traffic constable Nigel Bishop said improving people's driving habits through education was an important part of the battle against speeding.

'I would like to see more people prosecuted,' he said. 'There are driver-improvement courses for offenders, which they have to pay for themselves.

'Education is a starting point — things like signs, which have an impact on some people, are a form of low-level education.'

He pointed out that speeding motorists often turned out to be local people.

'From experience, a very high percentage of those who exceed the speed limit are from the local area. It happens time and time again.'

When asked about the possibility of double white lines in the road to stop people overtaking, Paul Marshall, principle highways engineer, said the Department of Transport would not permit them on a long, straight stretch of road.

'The only criterion the Department of Transport will accept for white lines is if there is a proven accident history there,' he said.

As a follow up to the meeting it was decided that questionnaires should be drawn up and circulated in the village to find out what action people want.