Outrage at ineffective speed limit for Brancepeth

May 27 2009 by Neil McKay, The Journal

THE family of a woman killed on a busy road reacted with fury last night to news that speed limit signs on the road through their village were “non enforceable”.

And campaigners fighting for a reduction in the speed limit through Brancepeth, near Durham, said they were “staggered” by the news the 40 miles per hour signs were for cosmetic purposes only.

The issue of a speed limit through the village to the west of Durham on the A690 road to Crook has become a political hot potato since the death of Ellen Hendry, 81, last November.

And an inquest into Mrs Hendry’s death held yesterday was told by PC Kevin Kitson, the forensic collision investigator for Durham Police, that the legal limit for the road through Brancepeth was actually 60 miles per hour.

To gasps of amazement from Mrs Hendry’s family he added: “There are 40 miles per hour non-enforcement speed limit signs. The limit is actually 60 miles per hour.”

When questioned again by Angela Curran, the solicitor acting for Mrs Hendry’s family, PC Kitson confirmed: “The 40 mile per hour signs are non-enforceable. The local authority is aware of this. The positioning of the signs was wrong, which means they are non-enforceable.”

Hours before Mrs Hendry was killed as she crossed the road after alighting from a bus from Durham, villagers had visited Durham County Council headquarters calling for a reduction in the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph.