New jackets for volunteers

Volunteers who are taking to the streets in and around Reepham have now been given a vital tool in their bid to crack down on speeding motorists - winter waterproof high visibility jackets.

VOLUNTEERS who are taking to the streets in and around Reepham have now been given a vital tool in their bid to crack down on speeding motorists - winter waterproof high-visibility jackets.

The Reepham Area Community Speedwatch team regularly goes out to help reduce speeding in the area with police speed guns.

But the teams are only issued with lightweight nylon high visibility vests by Norfolk

Police.

Now Reepham Garage Services have come to their rescue and donated eight personalised winter-weight waterproof quilted high-visibility jackets to keep the volunteers warm when they are standing by the roadside at 7.30am on a winter morning.

They were presented by the garage's directors Mark Smith and Dean Mears to Reepham Town Council as the principal sponsors of the Speedwatch team, and received on behalf of the council by the chairman Trevor Bevan, who then passed them to the Speedwatch team for their use.

They were accepted on behalf of the speedwatch volunteers by Maureen Smith from Attlebridge.

Reepham Area Speedwatch was set up on May 10 this year and the first monitoring session was on May 26. They have held 45 sessions in the past 19 weeks.

There are currently 15 volunteers covering 12 locations in Reepham and surrounding villages, working in teams

of three.

During the first 19 weeks, 7,756 vehicles have passed by one of their monitoring points.

In that time 229 vehicles were recorded exceeding the posted speed limit.

The highest speed recorded in a 30 mph zone was 58 mph and the most vehicles exceeding the

limit at one location in one hour was 20.