Fake camera axed

Oct 5 2007 by Dave Black, The Journal

A FAKE speed camera put up in a Northumberland village was facing the chop last night – despite claims it is having the desired effect of slowing down traffic and improving safety.

The ‘dummy’ camera suddenly appeared last weekend in Powburn, where locals have been campaigning for years for action to tackle problems on the busy A697.

The yellow box, which looks like a genuine camera to approaching motorists, has been the talk of the village – with locals claiming it is already acting as a deterrent and making drivers put the brakes on.

But last night it became clear that its days are numbered after the county council branded it an ‘illegal sign’ and said it will be removed.

The campaign for speed cameras in Powburn intensified three years ago after a lorry crashed into a house in the village while trying to negotiate a bend in the A697, the second such incident in seven years. Safety officials have rejected the calls, claiming the village accident record and traffic speeds don’t justify the installation of a camera.

Yesterday, Dave Deacon, who lives in Powburn and is a partner in construction company Impact Builders, said: “I have been working on a house right opposite where this fake camera went up at the weekend and it is obviously working. People have had a laugh about it but it has definitely had an impact.

“You can hear drivers changing gear and slowing down when they see it, and it just goes to show what can be done even without the help of the highways department. It has always been a bugbear here that we don’t have a speed camera, even with HGVs hitting houses, and the general feeling is that we’ve been neglected.

“No doubt it will be taken down, but it probably only cost £5 to put together and has certainly shown that a real camera would have an effect.”

Richard Poppleton, clerk to Hedgely Parish Council, said: “I would guess that local people would not be too unhappy about this fake camera being put up. There have been calls for years for speed cameras in Powburn but nobody seems to be on our side.

“People are still very frustrated at the unwillingness of the authorities to do what they feel is necessary. If this dummy camera is having an effect, perhaps it will persuade the safety camera partnership to see what we regard as sense and put a genuine one in.”

Ray King, of the Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative, said: “We would not encourage this sort of thing because we don’t want motorists to get confused between real speed cameras and fakes. We know Powburn would love a camera but it doesn’t qualify in terms of traffic speed or collision history.”

A county council highways spokesman said: “Even though this looks like a well-intentioned joke, we will still have to remove it. At the end of the day, it’s an illegal sign that could be confusing for drivers.

“It raises the possibility of fake cameras in drivers’ minds and could actually reduce the effect of real speed cameras that are placed very deliberately at locations where there have been fatalities.

“However, over the past three years, we have carried out a series of safety measures in Powburn, including installing flashing speed warnings signs.”

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