Should villagers set their own speed limit?

Residents in rural communities say speeding motorists are making their roads unsafe for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders.

Kerry Hollick, from Littleton, near Winchester, Hampshire, has started a petition calling for a lower speed limit in her village.

Meanwhile, one of the the county's MPs has called for villages to have a greater say over the speed limits on their roads.

Danny Chambers, the Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester, told parliament that communities should be able to decide whether traffic speeds should be reduced.

"We've met community groups that have campaigned for years to get an appropriate speed limit in their village," he said.

"They've done traffic surveys, they've done the speed watch, they have the data, they even have plans for traffic calming measures, and they simply are not allowed to instigate these measures."

Hollick's petition for Littleton is gathering support for a wider road safety plan for her village.

She said a balance needed to be found between the needs of motorists and other road users.

"I totally get it because I'm a motorist too and I have places to get to and I'm often up against the clock," she said. "But we do need a road that is safe for all."

She said a 400m (1,300ft) stretch of road through the village currently had a 40mph limit but no pavement, leaving pedestrians particularly vulnerable.

Currently, speed limits are set by local authorities. Parish councils and community groups can apply for changes, but they must provide evidence and meet certain criteria.

In Hampshire, an application of this sort costs £200.

The county council said it considers whether proposed limits are reasonable, enforceable and practical, as well as the potential impact on neighbouring communities, before making a decision on speed limits.

Conservative Steve Forster, who is the council's highways chief, told the BBC decisions had to consider the road network as a whole and lower speed limits were not always popular with motorists.

"The county council wants to, where appropriate, have the right speeds for local communities," he said.

"To ensure it is enforceable, and doesn't do things like, for instance, displace that traffic onto the next community alone.

"It's got to be looked at holistically... and we've got to weigh up all the different factors and the evidence before we can make any formal decisions."

The debate is not just confined to Hampshire. In Surrey, residents in Hambledon have been operating a community speed watch scheme for seven years.

One volunteer, who wished to be referred to only by his first name because of tense encounters with motorists, said residents want a lower limit to make it safer.

Godfrey said: "We want a lower speed limit because you become afraid to walk along the road.

"There are very few pavements in our village - you get a lot of traffic coming through here that is going too quick."

The volunteers record vehicle speeds and pass information to police. Drivers caught significantly exceeding the limit can receive warning letters.

Godfrey suggested even a 10mph reduction in the limit could improve safety.

But councils must weigh evidence of potential safety benefits against the costs, enforcement requirements and whether lower limits are appropriate for individual villages.