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Councillors urged to ask for more 20mph cameras

Richard Evans
Local Democracy Reporting Service
PA An image of a round, white 20mph sign with a red border, with another one blurred in the background behind it. Trees can also be seen blurred in the background. PA
North Wales Police say the introduction of the default 20mph speed limit has seen a notable drop in the number of accidents

Councillors have been urged to request more fixed speeding cameras to crack down on drivers exceeding the 20mph (32km/h) limit.

The North Wales Police and Crime Panel heard of drivers caught going up to 83mph (133kph) in 20mph zones, with the "top five" fixed-camera locations in north Wales all in Flintshire.

The force faces challenges enforcing the limit due to drivers and holidaymakers crossing the border where the 30mph default limit still applies, the panel was told.

While panel chairwoman Patricia Astbury called for councillors to request more cameras, North Wales Police Supt Simon Barrasford told the meeting the devices could be funded by the Welsh government.

In a presentation on road policing, Supt Barrasford briefed the panel on speeding figures since the 20mph default speed limit was introduced in Wales in September 2023.

"Any local authority can liaise with Welsh government for funding and put static cameras in," he said.

During the meeting, Ms Astbury called on some councillors to ask their authorities for more speed cameras.

"Maybe some of the elected members need to go away and think about having some fixed cameras… I'm certainly going to ask elected members for one on my road," she said.

The panel heard all of the top five fixed-camera locations in north Wales were in Flintshire: at the A5104 in Pontybodkin, the A548 in Oakenholt, the B5129 in Pentre, the A5119 on Northop Road, Sychdyn, and the A550 on Gladstone Way.

Supt Barrasford also briefed the panel on the Welsh government-funded Operation Ugain, a campaign to offer drivers exceeding the 20mph speed limit safety advice rather than penalty points.

Police revealed 126,640 vehicles had passed a Ugain team, 2,840 of which were stopped due to exceeding the 20mph speed limit, and 2,826 had engaged with the advice.

A total of 14 drivers were given a traffic offence report or a court summons.

PA A red car passes by a speed camera on a road. The car is blurred with the yellow camera sitting on a metal pole behind it. In the background a green space can be seen behind a railing, with a building with a curved roof behind the vehicle. PA
Patricia Astbury has called on some councillors to ask their local authorities for more speed cameras

Supt Barrasford said the highest speed recorded at a fixed-camera site was 83mph at Mynydd Isa, with the driver receiving a six-month disqualification, substantial fines and costs.

The highest speed within a 20mph zone recorded by a speed camera van was on Russell Road, Rhyl, in Denbighshire where a vehicle was travelling 51mph (82kph) "at 11am in the morning on a very busy road", he added.

Another community speed-watch camera caught a driver going 61mph (98kph) in a 20mph zone.

The top five non-fixed speed-camera locations in north Wales were Glan y Mor Road to Marine Drive in Penrhyn Bay in Conwy, the A525 Trefnant in Denbighshire, the A548 Russell Road in Rhyl, Denbighshire, the A494 in Bala, Gwynedd, and the A5025 in Amlwch Road, Benllech, Anglesey.

North Wales Police said the introduction of the 20mph default speed limit had resulted in a notable downwards trend of accidents.

Supt Barrasford said a 12-month comparison between before and after the legislation change saw serious injuries down by 19.4% and slight injuries drop by 43.9%.

Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman said collisions happened for reasons other than speed, including the age of drivers involved and defective vehicles.

She also noted that some tourists and visitors from England did not adhere to the speed limit.

This article was written by a trusted journalist and then edited for length and style with the help of AI, before being checked again by a BBC Journalist. It's part of a pilot.