Dartmoor ponies and cows to wear reflective bands to cut crashes

Eighty Dartmoor ponies and 150 cows roaming next to an unfenced road that crosses the moor will wear the bands

Hundreds of animals on Dartmoor will wear reflective neckbands in a bid to cut the number being hit by vehicles.

Eighty Dartmoor ponies and 150 cows that roam next to an unfenced main road across the moor will wear the bands.

In 2021, more than 100 crashes on Dartmoor left animals killed or injured.

Karla McKechnie, livestock protection officer, said the "unfenced roads become death traps unless motorists are animal aware".

"I am sickened and saddened by the high number of collisions I attend involving dead and dying animals," she added.

More than £6,300 worth of funding for the project has come from Vision Zero South West, a road safety partnership, in response to a bid from Dartmoor Forest Parish Council.

As well as the neckbands, the funding has also been used to install a speed sign below Leedon Tor

Councillor Mark Williams said: "The B3212 is the busiest of the two the main roads across Dartmoor and is the arterial route from Plymouth on to the moor and to Princetown and HM Prison Dartmoor.

"The 3.5-mile (5.6km) stretch between Peek Hill and Princetown is unfenced, with a speed limit of 40mph (64km/h) and runs across Walkhampton Common, where around 150 cattle and 80 ponies roam freely."

He said that in 2021 the Dartmoor Livestock Protection Society recorded 117 crashes that involved animals being hit by vehicles.

"Most result in the death of the animal and heavy damage to the vehicle involved. Some also result in injury to drivers and passengers," he said.

As well as the neckbands, the funding has been used to install a speed sign below Leedon Tor, on the road from Princetown, to alert drivers to slow down.

A horse trying out the new neckbands, which will be placed on Dartmoor livestock

Mr Williams added: "These neckbands have proved successful in their use in the New Forest.

"If this initiative proves successful the aim is to roll out similar measures on other key routes across the moor, should additional funding become available."