Sutton-on-Trent residents concerned about cat deaths take road safety into their own hands

Residents concerned about cat deaths have taken road safety into their own hands by urging people to slow down and save lives.

Neighbours in Sutton-on-Trent formed a speed watch group after witnessing drivers hurtling along local roads, fearing it could lead to casualties — especially after seeing animals knocked down and left by the roadside.

With the village having a primary school, which lots of parents and children walk to and from, the group has started to head out with speed guns in a bid to prevent any more tragedies.

Dog walkers in the area have also witnessed drivers on the Old Great North Road going speeds way above the limit.

Speaking at the start of Global Road Safety Week today, resident Sarah Pike said: "When you're walking down the road you can feel really vulnerable and aware of speeding traffic. Lots of residents complain of speeding issues in various parts of the village mainly by lorries but also other motorists.

"It's really common for cats to be run over which is clearly distressing for owners and you always see lots of roadkill at the side of the roads. Thankfully there haven’t been any serious collisions but you do sometimes feel that it’s only a matter of time.

"If everyone slowed down and were more aware of their surroundings then this wouldn't happen and it would be a nicer place to be."

Sarah, 43, runs a tree nursery in the village with her husband and is the owner of two dogs and three cats. Her concerns led to her teaming up with six other residents to form a neighbourhood speed watch group who have just completed their fifth check.

Supported by the Ollerton policing team, at least three of the group get together every Friday. One of them uses the speed gun, another shouts out vehicle details and checks number plates and the third person writes down the details.

The group record anything three miles per hour over the speed limit and send the data into the local neighbourhood team. Any drivers who've gone seven miles per hour over then get a letter from Nottinghamshire Police. If they get three of these warnings, then they get a visit from an officer.

"Interestingly, local people seem to be the main offenders for speeding and we can understand why people might think negatively about what we're doing. But we're not there to catch people, we're there to remind people that speed limits are there for a reason and to slow down," Sarah added.

Nottinghamshire Police will be staging operations across the county, which will include speed checks, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) checks, stop-checking vehicles for road safety, checking for seatbelts and mobile phone use alongside educating drivers about speeding and general road safety.

A total of 31 people have been killed on Nottinghamshire's roads as a result of speeding motorists in the last four years to December 2020. Six of these incidents happened last year.

The United Nations Global Road Safety event draws on the statistic that someone is killed in a road traffic crash every 24 seconds. The aim is to encourage people to demand speed limits in areas where people walk, live and play.

Clare Gibson, head of Nottinghamshire's road policing unit, said: "This week is all about coming together with our local communities to support any issues they might be having with speeding in their area and just generally encouraging people to slow down.

"Speed limits are there for a reason and it's well known that the faster motorists drive, the longer their stopping distance will be.

"We need to think about others, including people who live in the areas we drive in — children, cyclists and other road users who are really vulnerable and who will be completely powerless if they get struck by a vehicle. This is something we've experienced too many times in Nottinghamshire and which can be completely prevented by adhering to the speed limits.

"There are speed cameras and other measures across the county which are implemented in hot-spot road traffic collision areas and they regularly catch people out. Drivers also need to be warned that we will be pursuing prosecutions wherever necessary."