Madeleine Howell went to Woodthorpe, where 20mph limits have already been introduced on residential streets, to ask what local people think of them.

THE 20mph sign at the entrance to Bramble Dene looks oddly shrunken, like a well-sucked lollipop.

Local pensioner Gordon Ingle isn’t convinced it is entirely necessary.

Yes, he says, speed limits are sensible near schools.

But he doesn’t think there should be a blanket policy of 20mph limits on residential streets.

His street is a cul-de-sac, he says – and it has had not one but two signs installed.

He’s not sure why. There are no speeding motorists here.

“Cyclists who you see riding on pavements pose more of a danger,” he said.

Deborah Horner, 31, agrees most drivers didn’t go above 20mph before the new limit was brought in.

Those drivers who are prone to speeding are “not going to stop anyway”, she says.

For Rebecca Nichol, too, the new 20mph limits are a “waste of money”. Rebecca, from Moor Lane, says the majority of drivers don’t pose a threat to pedestrians and cyclists. “It’s only the odd crackpot!”

Robin McDermot, 68, is also against the 20mph limits.

The signs aren’t big enough for drivers to take notice of them, she says – and it is pointless to spend money on speed limits where parked cars force drivers to slow down anyway.

None of the residents The Press spoke to mentioned a difference in noise or pollution levels as a reason to support the new speed limits.

But not all of the people we spoke to who lived in Woodthorpe were against the policy.

One van driver, who said he wanted to remain anonymous, thought it was “a brilliant idea”, and far safer, “especially if there’s kids about”.

“We pay enough out of taxes to pay for these things,” he added.