ONE of the policemen at the centre of a row over illegal road signs has escaped another speeding charge because of a second legal technicality, it was revealed last night.

PC David Burlingham sparked fury after he, and his colleague PC Andrew McFarlane, challenged their fixed penalty notices for exceeding the limit on a 50mph road near Guisborough, east Cleveland.

They successfully claimed the warning signs were illegal because they had a black border around a speed camera logo which infringed the Road Traffic Regulation Act.

Last night, it emerged that the day after being caught doing 58mph on the A171 near Guisborough, PC Burlingham was caught driving at 78mph on the same road.

On Tuesday, at Guisborough Magistrates' Court, both charges were discontinued because of the technicality over the legality of the road signs.

However, because 78mph is above the national speed limit, it is an offence no matter what signs are on the roadside.

But the Crown Prosecution Service found it was unable to prosecute PC Burlingham for breaking the national speed limit because more than six months had elapsed since the alleged offence had been committed on July 21 last year.

PC McFarlane's charge of driving at 60mph in June 2002 was discontinued on Tuesday because of the illegality of the road signs.

Mick Bennet, public relations manager for the Cleveland Safety Camera Partnership, said: "It is quite unforgivable for a police officer to be doing that speed, having driven past five signs saying what the speed limit is, even if they have a black border around them."

Tony Vickers, of the Association of British Drivers, added: "To drive at 58mph in a 50mph limit is not right, but provided it is clear and there is no evidence of other traffic it could be considered not to be dangerous.

"But to travel at almost 80mph has to be, without doubt, quite a serious traffic violation."

Meanwhile, Colin Moore, chief executive of Redcar and Cleveland council, which is responsible for the signs, is writing to North Yorkshire Police to demand the officers are disciplined.

Mr Moore said: "It is a shame that the CPS didn't see fit to allow the courts to rule on this petty technicality.

"It is an even greater shame that police officers, who are supposed to have the highest integrity, should use a loophole to wriggle out of the responsibilities they place on everyone else.

"By their actions they have brought the police force and public service into disrepute. We hope that the internal disciplinary procedure will be able to act where the law has failed.

"There is no dispute that the officers were speeding and the place they were doing it was clearly unsafe to travel at that speed. This is a dangerous stretch of road and is clearly signed with warnings about the high rate of accidents."

The council last night confirmed its 16 signs on the stretch of the A171 between Waterfall Farm and Birk Brow were approved by the Government in May 2000.

They will now be replaced, probably by the end of the month, while other councils in the Cleveland force area are also carrying out reviews.

North Yorkshire chief constable Della Cannings was unavailable to comment, and neither PC Burlingham, 47, nor PC McFarlane, 35, wished to comment, a force spokeswoman said.

She added: "When we receive Mr Moore's letter we will consider it seriously. Any matters arising from this case will be looked at and we will consider the implications for our force."

Cleveland Police Authority chairman Ken Walker said: "The officers have a duty to uphold both the letter and the spirit of the law. I wonder if they really feel they have met that responsibility on this occasion."

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