Police boss’s U-turn over speed blitz

A POLICE chief backtracked yesterday after calling for motorists who break the speed limit by just 1mph to face punishment.

Anthony Bangham admitted the proposal would not be ‘proportionate or achievable’. He said he never advocated a draconian nationwide crackdown and wanted to ‘clear up the misunderstanding’.

The officer, who is Chief Constable of West Mercia police and responsible for Britain’s roads policing, added: ‘I now want to be clearer on this point – our aim is not to be pursuing drivers 1mph over the speed limit and putting them through the courts. This would not be proportionate or achievable.’

Mr Bangham’s call for the abolition of the 10 per cent ‘buffer’ over the speed limit would have led to thousands more drivers facing punishment for marginal offences. In a backlash, officers of all ranks, campaign groups and lawyers branded it unenforceable ‘madness’.

However, the police chief yesterday insisted frontline officers must not ‘apologise’ for enforcing the law and should act ‘based on the circumstances’. He added: ‘There may well be occasions where someone is speeding a couple of miles over the limit outside a school and an officer could reasonably decide it is proportionate to stop them.’ AA president Edmund King last night welcomed the ‘clarification’.