FURTHER to my letters, I now see that residents of Whitworth Road, Spennymoor (Echo, Nov 22) live in fear every day as a result of speeding and poor driver behaviour.

They are calling for a lowering of the speed limit.

I would respectfully suggest, however, that perennial speedsters just ignore the speed limits, road humps, chicanes, normal road etiquette etc. We have all of these at High Pittington where speeding remains rife.

What meaningful action – ie: the issuing of speed tickets – is being taken by Durham Police to deal with this problem?

There has been a marked reluctance by the police to release data and the following figures were only released after submission of two Freedom of Information requests (FOI) and relate to the issue of speed tickets by Durham Constabulary for the years ended March 2017, 2018 and 2019:

2017: 7768 (average daily issue of 20)

2018: 9,602 (average daily issue of 26)

2019: 21,724 (average daily issue of 60)

These figures relate to the whole of the Durham police force area.

Speedsters are breaking the law but laws are only as good as the desire and will to invoke them, when necessary.

However, the above results suggest that the Durham force has significant shortcomings with regard to enforcement.

I have, therefore, submitted a further FOI request to the force requesting comment/clarification/justification of matters and what, if anything, was discussed with HM Inspectorate of Police, at the 2017, 2018 and 2019 annual reviews, regarding Durham’s performances/policy stance on speeding and enforcement.

A response is awaited.

E McKeown, High Pittington