Semington residents have welcomed the introduction of a No Entry Watch scheme aimed to reduce the misuse of a no through road in the village.
The watch scheme, which is run by 15 local volunteers and supported by Wiltshire Police, has been set up in Semington following concerns from residents about drivers using the old A350 road where a ‘no through’ road has been in place since 2004.
The road near Trowbridge and Melksham, is accessible to buses and some local residents, has clear signs and turning areas to inform and deter drivers, but continues to be used as a shortcut through the village.
Driving through a no entry road is an offence carrying a penalty of three points and £100 fine.
52 advisory letters have been issued since the scheme began in December 2015 and on seeing the Watch volunteers in place 221 cars have turned around and taken an alternative route.
Melksham rural south PCSO Helen Wilson said, “The number of people using the road was brought to my attention by some of the local residents at a parish council meeting.
“Residents are concerned about the number of cars driving through and ignoring the no entry signs and asked if there was anything we could do to help.
“Working with the Community Speed Watch coordinator, we decided to use the same principles as the Speed Watch scheme to enable the local community to become more involved and create No Entry Watch.
“Since the scheme has been in place it has been evident that something needed to be put in place to deter the numbers of drivers using the no through road as a shortcut. It is still early days but we can see that it is already starting to have an impact from the number of cars turning around.
“No Entry Watch has also received additional support from the Wiltshire Police Special Constabulary who has issued two fixed penalty tickets.”
Brian Smyth, vice-chair of Semington Parish Council said, “For some years there has been a significant traffic hazard posed by drivers illegally taking a shortcut through Semington village, often at speed.
“Because of this, volunteers in the village have been very keen to take part in the No Entry Watch.
“The scheme has been in place now for several months. Although there are still a number of cars driving through, the positive aspect is that there are a large number of ‘turn arounds’ where drivers obviously know they are breaking the law and decide to turn back. Hopefully No Entry Watch will make them think twice before trying again.”
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