MORE than 500 motorists in North Yorkshire face action after the highest ever deployment of Community Speed Watching groups in a single day.

Twenty groups of volunteers across the county - including those in Allerston, Weaverthorpe, Sheriff Hutton and Scagglethorpe – detected 186 potential driving offences.

They were supported by the force’s mobile safety camera vans, which recorded a further 349 offences.

Jamie Smith, of North Yorkshire Police’s Traffic Bureau, said: “It is disappointing that more than 500 motorists have been potentially caught speeding and committing other driving offences in a single day alone.

“Breaking the speed limit knocks seconds off the average journey, but massively increases the risk of killing someone if you have a crash, especially in residential areas where there are a lot of pedestrians. Communities do not like it, which is reflected in the record turn-out of Community Speed Watch groups last week.”

During the day of action, Community Speed Watch volunteers monitored speeds and provided high-visibility deterrents, to encourage motorists to observe speed limits and drive carefully in villages, suburbs and other residential areas.

Motorists will be sent a legal notice for speeding or other driving offences, which starts formal legal proceedings and could result in points on their licence and a fine.

A full list of Community Speed Watch deployment locations was published on North Yorkshire Police’s website, the North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Police Traffic Bureau Facebook pages and shared with the media to make motorists aware of the locations in advance.

North Yorkshire now has 69 Community Speed Watch groups, with the aim of drawing drivers’ attention to speed limits in areas where communities feel excessive speed is affecting their quality of life, and to educate them about the impact of their actions.

Jamie said: “We are extremely grateful to volunteers who gave up their time and continue to do so for other Community Speed Watch activities.

“Alongside other enforcement methods, it means we can help them make their communities safer and improve driving standards by educating motorists.”

The scheme was developed after a public consultation run by the Police and Crime Commissioner in July 2014 which showed that four out of five residents were concerned about road safety in North Yorkshire, and that 72 percent of people felt that more should be done to improve road safety through enforcement or education.

To find out more about how a Community Speed Watch group could be set up in your area, visit northyorkshire.police.uk/what-we-do/road-policing/community-speed-watch/