DRIVERS in Porlock could be among the best behaved and safest motorists in the country.

A working group led by parish council vice-chairman Cllr Stephen Colson has found that average vehicle speeds monitored in nearly 20 different stretches of road were all below their 20mph and 30mph limits.

Motorists are so good at observing speed limits that Avon and Somerset Police has told the parish council it will not help pay for a speed indicator device (SID) because the village does not have a speeding problem.

Cllr Colson’s traffic calming and road safety group presented a report to the annual parish meeting on its work in the past year.

He said: “The work has been sensitive to maintaining the heritage of Porlock and not making any permanent changes that would be detrimental to the look and feel of our village.

“It also recognises that there is a relationship between managing traffic speed and congestion, which is a natural consequence of seasonal volumes of traffic on a main A39 which is narrow and bending as it runs through the village.”

Cllr Colson said despite the police decision not to help fund a SID the parish council was going to buy one itself for £2,500 to help raise the issue of speed awareness.

He said the council would be flexible with the SID’s locations and only use it from time to time so there would not be any permanent change to the ‘look and feel of the village’.

Cllr Colson said data showed SIDs were effective 90 per cent of the time in reminding drivers to cut their speed and they reduced the need for community speed watch groups.

He said there was ‘little appetite’ for re-forming Porlock’s previous community speed watch group, based on the experience of its volunteers.

Traffic calming measures which had been explored included a formal 20mph zone and extending 20mph limits on certain roads.

However, a formal zone would need traffic calming measures such as speed bumps and traffic priorities every 200 metres, which would not only impact the character of the village but wold cost about £10,000.

Some Porlock roads were 20mph where they were close to High Street, but further away they were 30mph.

But, extending 20mph limits for the full lengths of Bossington Lane, Old Lane, Doverhay, Parsons Street, and Redway would mean more signage in Porlock and cost about £7,000.

Cllr Colson said neither was considered an attractive option by the working group and so they were not pursued further.

He said more frequent random speed checks were considered but police said the priority of officers was areas with known speeding issues.

Porlock traffic data on average speeds did not raise sufficient concern, and while police acknowledged speed was a contributing factor for road traffic accidents and offences, the main issues for them were alcohol, drugs, and age.

Cllr Colson said: “That said, our PCSOs will do their own speed checks as resources allow, though these are not enforceable.”