By Bridie Adams

CARS have been racing around a roundabout in a Herefordshire town at speeds of around 50 miles per hour, according to one local.

The average speed of traffic on a road in Ross-on-Wye is six miles per hour over the limit, a meeting of Ross Town Council heard in March.

And there is demand from locals for a community speed watch team to police Walford Road.

February’s data from the town council’s speed indicator device showed that the average speed of 85 per cent per cent of the traffic along the 30 miles per hour stretch is 36 miles per hour.

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“I think the speeding starts from the Prince of Wales pub as it’s a straight bit of road, and then goes all the way out to Walford,” said Sarah Hartley, who lives on Roman Way and drives on Walford Road every day to take her children to school.

“Although a lot of people do go over 30, I don’t think a speed camera is needed. But a lot of kids walk that stretch of road, from Tudorville to the Prince of Wales, and the ifs and buts of a kid being hit do worry me.”

Colin Lawson, who lives in Tudorville, said: “When cars pull out of Vine Tree vets, they can’t see up the road to the right for cars driving out of Ross towards Walford because of a wall there. If a car is speeding, a car pulling out could be hit.”

Mr Lawson walks his dog along the road at 7.30am every morning and claimed he had seen cars driving over the roundabout by the vets at around 50 miles per hour.

“What is needed is speed bumps going right across the road before the roundabout, a permanent speed trap and, dare I say, a mobile police speed trap,” he added.

Although willing volunteers to start a speed watch team had been found, the council minutes said there were “significant delays” in vetting them. Now, some of these people are no longer able to volunteer as they have since taken on other volunteering duties or paid employment. The council heard that most people involved were frustrated at the lack of progress.

PC Daniel Underwood said the process of vetting volunteers had begun, but he was unable to provide a timescale for how long this would take.

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