It was heartening to read that Copeland police tweeted that four drivers had been stopped by an unmarked police vehicle for using a Whitehaven road as a racetrack.

They will receive Section 59 warnings against them and their vehicles. This type of behaviour is anti-social and risks lives.

I have consistently drawn attention to the need of a speed camera on Duke Street in town to identify the registration numbers of vehicles driven by rogue drivers, hell-bent on using the road as a racetrack and putting lives at risk.

I was informed that Cumbria police completely rely upon statistics to identify ‘hotspots’ before any action is forthcoming to address concerns of residents.

Why has it taken four months for the police to decide to put an unmarked vehicle lying in wait to identify such behaviour?

Hopefully, it is because Cumbria’s police and crime panel is having a virtual meeting at 10am on October 16, by which time they may have issued sufficient Section 59 warnings as evidence to justify the need for a speeding camera.

As Whitehaven Central Ward councillor, even I am not invited to attend. I can send a question to the councillor who is on the committee to speak on my behalf, and local residents can watch, but not participate.

Many residents have contacted me in despair that they literally take their lives into their hands attempting to cross Duke Street; this weekend has been like a rodeo.

While I am very supportive of a new initiative – the Connecting Cumbria Hidden Coast project, led by Copeland Council, to be funded by Sellafield Ltd and the Government’s Coastal Community Fund, who have commissioned experts to promote adrenaline sports, activities etc and to look at whether Copeland’s coast could become a destination of choice for those seeking adventure activities – I really do need to emphasise that the adrenaline activities currently required by residents to negotiate Whitehaven’s roads is addressed FIRST, before we can even entertain the idea of maximising environmental growth, when we can hardly cross the roads safely ourselves.

COUN EILEEN WEIR

Whitehaven