Hundreds of motorists caught speeding on busy Bewdley Bypass

The West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion had raised concerns about the A456 Bewdley Bypass – after there had been one fatal and two serious crashes since 2015.

The force started enforcement activity on the road in March and have so far carried out almost 20 hours of activity over two months. In that time, 256 prosecutable speeding offences were recorded.

Thirty-seven per cent of the drivers caught are from the Wyre Forest area – with one caught speeding at 93 mph.

The figures revealed that 30 per cent of the drivers caught were from outside the West Mercia force area, 17 per cent were from other areas in West Mercia and the remaining 16 per cent were from Shropshire.

'Staggered'

It also found that 13 per cent of the vehicles caught were light goods vehicles (LGVs), which is deemed high compared to the average eight per cent.

Mr Campion said: "When people started expressing their concerns over this road, I promised I would raise them with West Mercia Police with a view to carrying out some enforcement.

“Whilst I knew this road suffered with speeding, I am still staggered to see the data that has been gathered over the past few months. The majority of those caught speeding live in the West Mercia area, so I am disappointed that they are most likely familiar with the road and how dangerous it can be. As road users, we all have our part to play in reducing collisions on our roads – such as driving slower and respecting other drivers.

“I am grateful to the West Mercia Police Safer Roads team for acting so quickly and making this road a priority. As enforcement continues, and letters start landing on people’s doormats, I hope that people’s attitudes will change. We need to see the number of people losing their lives or becoming seriously injured on our roads dramatically reduce. It is simply not acceptable for people to continue driving at these excessive speeds and putting people’s lives at risk.”