ANTI-SPEEDING volunteers have passed 22,500 reports of speeding drivers to police already this year.

The reports from Community SpeedWatch volunteers across Sussex have prompted 20,000 first warning letters from police to drivers.

Volunteers say the scheme makes roads safer but one driver slammed it as “policing by stealth”.

Jan Jung, from Battle, is a SpeedWatch co-ordinator for Rother district and umbrella group Community SpeedWatch Online.

He said: “It gets communities involved in trying to address it in a way that the police do not have the resources to do.

“It is about making drivers aware of the speed they drive and that communities are fed up.

“It can be a thankless role – being seen as a nosy neighbour or the SS – but they try to make the world safe.”

Volunteers in 91 county SpeedWatch groups use hand-held speed monitoring devices at 600 sites and refer details of speeding to police.

Last week, Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne gave £12,000 for more monitoring devices in Adur and Worthing, Arun, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Wealden.

Of the 22,500 drivers who received warnings this year, 1,514 people were sent second letters and 221 a third letter.

Each of the 221 cases have been passed to police for possible further action – standard for third-time offenders.

One driver told The Argus he was given a warning letter in March for driving at 37mph in a 30mph zone, and said he did not agree with the scheme.

He said: “Speeding needs to be clamped down on but I don’t think this is the right way to police professionally.

“They are not the right people to be doing it. It is sort of policing by stealth.”

  • From August to November last year, 7,325 first-warning letters were sent out