Herefordshire village extremely concerned after figure destroyed

A scarecrow in Native American dress holding a 40mph sign while it points an arrow at drivers was put up in Dormington, between Hereford and Ledbury.

A spokesperson from Dormington and Mordiford Parish Council previously said the scarecrow was in place to deter people from going over the speed limit as a 60mph zone meets the village on both sides.

This is where the scarecrow was positioned before it was destroyed. Picture: Julia Cotton (Image: Julia Cotton)

The spokesperson said it has now gone after it was either destroyed by someone after deliberately vandalising it, or it was hit by a car accidentally, which would have been much worse as it could have been a pedestrian that was hit.

RELATED NEWS:

• Why this new figure has appeared in a Herefordshire village
• Named: more Herefordshire speeders fined by magistrates
• Hereford speeder caught at almost 70 in 30 miles per hour zone

Scarecrow in Dormington, that was in place to stop speeders. Picture: Hattie Young (Image: Hattie Young)

The village is extremely concerned about speeding as over the years it has had pedestrian death; with one in 2014, another time a resident was crossing the road and was hit and killed but the driver was found not to have been speeding, and a couple in a car went off the road and died in the orchard in July 2020, said the spokesperson.

ALSO READ:

• Chef and waitress killed in car crash, inquest told

"More recently, on Friday September 23, someone hit the Dormington road sign and destroyed it along with about three metres of hedge," they said.

"It's the few who do speed that cause the trouble. And I'm guessing that some incidents are not reported to police or insurers, so the real picture may not be known."

The council has had several speed monitoring checks, and the first showed little problems.

OTHER NEWS:

• Why owner of ‘thriving’ Herefordshire garage is selling up
• Man charged with murder in Ross-on-Wye
• Ross-on-Wye workers told not to kill hedgehogs

It showed 15 per cent of vehicles travel at or higher than 40mph.

"In our opinion this has continued to get worse, with more traffic on the road, going faster," said the spokesperson.

The council has had several attempts at getting a traffic regulation passed, since 2015 at least, and in April this year submitted a list at their request to Balfour Beatty as part of Herefordshire Council's village safety initiative but have heard nothing more to date.

The parish council wants village gates, using white lines to make the road appear narrower than it is, dragons teeth road markings at either side of the village, and a speed monitor to be put in place.