Villagers told to take down traffic signs

Villagers in Gloucestershire who funded their own set of traffic signs urging motorists to slow down have been forced to take them down.

Whiteshill and Ruscombe parish council spent £1,000 producing 15 “20 is Plenty” signs, as a result of road safety fears last year.

Gloucestershire Highways initially allowed the signs to stay up, as part of the villager’s anti-speeding campaign. Yet now residents have been made to take them down after being told that they are not official signs.

The villagers were told that two of their signs could stay up outside the local primary school, to remind drivers about their speed. However, the rest of the signs are now unused and have been left lying on one of the council member’s garage floor.

John Rogers, the chairman of the parish council said to the BBC: “We have the absurdity that we have a village school which people feel they have to drive their children to because they are not happy walking there.”

The village’s official speed limit is 30mph, but the local residents feel this is insufficient to prevent possible accidents.

“We need to look at this seriously. I really feel that no-one is going to do anything unless a child is either injured or killed on this road,” said Angie Mason, chairman of the Friends of Whiteshill Primary School.

“I think we need to go further, not backwards,” she added.

In a statement to the BBC the county council said: “We have agreed to investigate the possibility of introducing a 20mph limit for the whole of the Whiteshill area, subject to the guidelines being approved by our scrutiny committee.

“While we understand people’s concerns, the signs cannot stay up on a permanent basis because they are not legal.”

The episode highlights the importance of official approval when placing signs in a controlled environment, such as in public places like the road.