Shropshire number plate cameras to catch speeding drivers

The police and crime commissioner has paid for the £40,000 scheme (generic average speed camera image)

Number plate recognition cameras are to be used in Shropshire villages for the first time in a bid to catch speeding drivers.

The £40,000 scheme covers Pontesbury, Minsterley and Hanwood on the A488.

It has been jointly funded by the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and the parish councils.

Councillor Richard Marshall said he hoped the cameras would "make a real difference to improving road safety" in the villages.

Shropshire Council said it was delighted the three parish councils had been successful in their bid for funding.

Mr Marshall, deputy portfolio holder for physical infrastructure, highways and built housing, said speeding traffic was "an issue of real concern to residents across the county".

Persistent speeding

The devices were being installed this week thanks to a grant of £18,600 from the PCC, which was match funded by the three parish councils, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The project was born in 2020 when West Mercia's newly appointed Deputy Chief Constable Julian Moss visited the area to meet with local councillors and they raised the issue of persistent speeding along the A488.

He had recently moved from Gloucestershire Constabulary, where he had worked with a parish councillor to install parish council-owned ANPR cameras.

"That was the start of our relationship with Charles and his knowledge in this area has been instrumental in helping us take this forward," said Pontesbury Parish Council chairman Duncan Fletcher.

He also chairs the Safer Speed Shropshire partnership which was formed to pursue the project.

The cameras will be placed on Shropshire Council lamp-posts and will capture images of vehicles travelling in both directions along the A488.