A CAMPAIGN to clamp down on motorists driving at dangerous speeds through the rural villages of Richmondshire has been hailed a success.

Dozens of danger areas have been targeted during the blitz, and road policing officers have issued hundreds of penalty notices for motoring offences.

The clampdown followed a call by the Richmondshire Community Safety Partnership earlier this year when local parishes were asked to report "hotspot" areas for speeding.

So far there have been 35 referrals, resulting in the deployment of 19 data recorders and six flashing "speed matrix" boards - and further deployments are planned over the next few months.

The equipment can establish how much of a problem speeding is, and can be used to encourage motorists to slow down. Where that doesn’t work, police can take formal enforcement action.

Sergeant John Lumbard, of the partnership’s road safety group, said: "The Richmond-based road policing officers have been targeting routes where speed-related collisions are occurring, and as a result have issued 730 penalty notices for motoring offences in the last six months."

Road safety group chairman Coun Michael Heseltine, added: "I am delighted that we have been able to use the equipment we purchased to gather and then feed back speeding information to our communities.

"We are trying to educate road users in the first instance – but where evidence suggests this isn’t working, the police can use enforcement methods."