Additional police operations in Woodhall, Stanningley and Pudsey are cracking down on speeding and anti-social motorists.
The additional operations are funded by the council’s Outer West Community Committee in partnership with Leeds West Neighbourhood Policing Team in attempt to tackle a rise in speeding, dangerous driving and anti-social vehicle use.
15 traffic tickets were issued to motorists in one recent session for offences throughout the area, including speeding hotspots like Woodhall Road, Bradford Road and Galloway Lane.
The additional funding from councillors was in response to data analysis from police highlighting 473 reports of nuisance cars, vans, and moto/quad bikes throughout the Outer West area over a 12-month period – up 8% from the previous year.
Targeting motorists
More widely across Leeds, operation SPARC, funded by Leeds City Council in partnership with West Yorkshire Police, also focuses on targeting anti-social driving and driving offences most associated with victims being killed or seriously injured.Â
Specialist roads policing officers target motorists who are speeding, using a handheld mobile phone, not wearing a seatbelt, or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. People who drive aggressively, with vehicle defects or without third party insurance will also face enforcement.
Since launching in July 2020, police officers have dealt with 2,692 drivers. This includes 696 seatbelt offences and 506 speeding offences. The off-road motorbike team have dealt with 141 offenders.
Councillor Peter Carlill (Calverley and Farsley, Labour and Co-operative) welcomed the developments. He said:
“Speeding and anti-social driving, which was already an issue in our community, has seemingly got worse throughout the periods of lockdowns and reduced traffic.
“Speaking to local residents it’s clear that speeding and anti-social driving of all kinds are important issues within all our communities, and quite rightly feature highly on the neighbourhood policing priorities for the Calverley and Farsley ward, as well as being a key priority for the council across the City.
“After years of cuts to the police service, leaving West Yorkshire Police at one point with 600 fewer officers than in 2010, I welcome these short-term additional funding measures to plug some of the gap.
“I’m also keen to work with residents and community groups on community speed watch programmes to enhance this work across our community.
“It is clear, however, that long-term funding solutions are needed just to return policing numbers to previous levels in order to keep our communities safe.”
The Outer West Community Committee is made up of nine councillors from three wards – Calverley & Farsley, Farnley & Wortley and Pudsey. The committee is made up of Conservative, Green and Labour councillors.
I’m glad they are trying to do something. Are they there in the middle of the night targetting those using it as a racetrack keeping everyone awake, or is this in the daytime targetting mostly sensible drivers?