Mobility scooters face 4mph shopping centre limit

New speed limit signs for mobility scooters have been placed in a shopping centre - and they are already making a "significant difference".

Idlewells Shopping Centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, placed notices on its entrance doors in May aiming to improve the safety of shoppers.

They serve as a reminder of national government guidance which states mobility scooters must not exceed 4mph (6.4kmh) on pavements or 8mph (12.8kmh) on roads.

Jason Truscott, centre manager, insisted there were "definitely not" going to be any speed guns, and that mobility scooter owners had so far been adhering to the limit.

Residents in the town have welcomed the idea, describing it as a "funny and strange" one.

Katy Draycott, 29, said: "I'd never really think of the concept myself. It's quite funny, isn't it?

"When you walk out of a shop you kind of have to look both ways, like crossing a road, which is an experience in itself, so [the signs are] quite good."

Linda Hague, 64, has said some mobility scooters need to "cool it a little bit" as they drive around the town centre.

She said "some" people could be quite inconsiderate.

"When you're walking around the town centre you're dodging them sometimes, not overly, but you do have to dodge them a little bit," she added.

Ben Molloy, the manager of Complete Freedom Mobility, a mobility scooter shop in Sutton-in-Ashfield, said the speed limit signs were good for "safety and common sense".

"You've got a lot of speed demons flying around who perhaps don't realise how dangerous one of [the scooters] could be if it hits somebody.

"They've all got a switch to go between the speeds... just use common sense, if it's really busy, turn it down on the speed dial."

Mobility scooters with a maximum speed of more than 4mph need to be registered with the DVLA, according to government guidance.

Mr Truscott said: "We're not trying to be enforcers, we're not trying to clamp down on everything that goes off.

"But we'd like people to realise that there are things that need to be adhered to and maybe not every mobility scooter owner is aware of the limit in public spaces."

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