Published at 16:30, Friday, 15 February 2013

Police have hailed a speeding operation in north Cumbria a success.

Responding to complaints from residents in Cumwhinton, Brampton and Dalston they held a three-day crackdown to get the slow down message across.

But instead of simply issuing tickets to those breaking the limit, in many cases they used 'restorative' justice to highlight the dangers.

Motorists clocked doing between 35mph and 42mph are normally given the option of a speed awareness course but during this operation they were given the option of speaking with a member of the community. Anyone travelling at more than 42mph people was ticketed.

Inspector Dan St Quintin said: “It was great to see people engaging with the volunteers and members of the community being given a chance to tell those who speed through their towns and villages what the impact is.

“We hope that those who were speeding and involved in the restorative justice process will think twice about speeding and stick to the limit now that they understand how it makes people feel."

On Wednesday in Cumwhinton, 10 drivers were stopped, eight agreed to restorative justice and two were ticketed. The results were the same in Brampton yesterday and Dalston today.

Insp St Quintin said: “We hope that those who were speeding and involved in the restorative justice process will think twice about speeding and stick to the limit now that they understand how it makes people feel.

“The response we received on all three days was great, we had local residents coming up to speak to us and highlight other concerns that we will aim to address. We also had people from other villages asking if we would bring the scheme to their village, which we will consider."

Police issued regular updates on the operation on social network site Twitter. Below is a selection of their tweets...

No 7 doing 40! A doctor rushing to get her daughter to catch a train. She could be rushing into an collision at that speed! #cumbriapolicing

— Brampton Police (@Bramptonpolice) February 15, 2013

3rd driver caught at 47, straight toticket I'm afraid, £60 & 3 points! Don't forget your ins is likely to go up too! #cumbriapolicing

— Brampton Police (@Bramptonpolice) February 15, 2013 

Second driver caught at 39 restorative justice given. He was gutted at the fact he was speeding, rather than being caught! #cumbriapolicing

— Brampton Police (@Bramptonpolice) February 15, 2013

Male driver caught 49mph, totally unacceptable, given a ticket #givepedestriansachance

— Brampton Police (@Bramptonpolice) February 14, 2013

First driver went for restorative justice. Lot of remorse shown. Said they wouldn't do it again. Resident very impressed #cumbriapolicing

— Brampton Police (@Bramptonpolice) February 13, 2013

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk