MOTORISTS in Ledbury face more speed traps with the announcement that Police have trained two local officers in the use of a radar gun.

The move means that police will no longer have to rely on the traffic unit from Hereford to mount campaigns at speeding hot-spots in the town.

The news has been welcomed by a resident in one of Ledbury's worst areas for speeding, The Southend, where Hereford traffic officers handed out five summonses in just 30 minutes after mounting a speed trap last year.

"The Southend is a 30mph limit and it's certainly hazardous. Now officers can just walk down from the Worcester Road station, and that will be a deterrent to speeding motorists," said Eirian Hart.

Ledbury police chief, Insp. Geoff Mayor, said: "The message is, don't take it for granted that there will be no speed enforcement officers in any area.

"Speed kills, and we are trying to educate our local motorists to abide by the speed limits."

Insp. Mayor said it was important that local officers were trained in the use of the hand-held radar guns, rather than having to always call in the traffic department from Hereford.

He mentioned both the Southend and the Hereford Road in Ledbury as places where motorists speed, and revealed that the two-trained officers, PC Keith Eyles and PC Jon Williams, had already carried out speed swoops in nearby Colwall and issued a number of fixed penalty tickets.

"In general terms, the presence of an officer with a radar gun is as much as a deterrent as anything," said Insp. Mayor.

On the other side of British Camp, Worcester traffic police have made a concerted effort to target speeding on the A449, along with supporting road safety improvements.

Police say the initiative, which has included sponsorship of a radar gun by Malvern Hills District Council and Worcestershire County Council, has made a major impact on the safety of the road, where four people were killed in an accident in 1998.

n A SCHOOL mini bus was left wrecked on the Ledbury to Malvern Road following an accident during the early morning rush hour on Tuesday (May 23).

Emergency crews spent more than two hours clearing the A449 near the Malvern Hills Hotel, British Camp, following the accident at 7.30am which involved the Malvern College bus, a red Volkswagen and an HGV.

There were no passengers on the bus and the driver of the car was taken to Ronkswood A&E for treatment to minor injuries.

Traffic was initially diverted through Welland but by 8am police had cleared one lane of the A449 and by just after 9am the road was cleared.