Row over lay-by to catch speeders

A NEW lay-by for police to catch speeding drivers is in the wrong part of a Swansea village, it is being claimed.

However Swansea Council, which worked alongside South Wales Police on the lay-by positioning, said it is exactly where it should be.

It has been placed along Swansea Road, the B4489, in Llangyfelach near the junction of Heol Pentre Felin.

The lay-by has a wall and bilingual sign and text painted on the road surface stating it is for “police vehicles only”.

Residents in the village argue that if the lay-by should be anywhere, it should have been placed outside the Plough and Harrow pub near the exit of the M4.

Villagers have long called for a pedestrian crossing by the pub due to what they claim is the volume of speeding traffic coming off the motorway at junction 46.

It is here any police van should be given a dedicated lay-by to catch drivers breaking the speed limit, residents say.

Gareth Watson, whose son attends Llangyfelach Primary School in nearby Pengors Road, said the issue has been ongoing for several years.

He said: “Residents have been asking for a crossing to be placed by the Plough and Harrow for years and were told by the council that speed is not an issue.

“Now the council has installed this lay-by and accepted there is a speed issue which is great, but the lay-by is way too far down the road from where the speeding issues are.

“It should have been put in near the pub because drivers come off the M4 there at such speed, we’ve had a car overturn at the bus stop because of how fast it had left the motorway.

“So the lay-by is in the wrong place and we still need a crossing at the M4 end of the village to help people cross the road near the pub and for children like my son coming from the school.”

MP Tonia Antoniazzi said the siting of a crossing was an issue but was pleased a lay-by had been introduced in the area.

She said: “We had a site meeting regarding a crossing and a speed check point about two years ago.

“The placement of a crossing was discussed and this was being looked at seriously by the council however there were many challenges to the placing of it.

“I understand that crossing the road there is dangerous with small children being taken to the primary school and we shall continue to look at addressing this with the local councillor and highways department.”