SPEEDING drivers are more likely to find themselves at the wrong end of the long arm of the law.

Richmondshire Community Safety Partnership (CSP) has purchased its own pro-laser speed gun and matrix board and will be taking to the district's roads in an attempt to persuade more motorists to kill their speed.

The unit will be taken to villages where residents have complained of persistent problems in the past.

Manned by police community support officers and firefighters, the matrix boards light up to illustrate the correct speed limit, which should prompt drivers to slow down.

However, a camera on top of the unit also records each vehicle's speed and, if the majority are still travelling too fast, police officers can return at a later date with the pro-laser gun to enforce the law.

The Sign Up To Safety project, which has the backing of North Yorkshire County Council as well as the Fire and Rescue Service, is being watched by other community safety organisations across the area and could prove the forerunner of similar schemes elsewhere.

"By purchasing the matrix boards and speed gun, we are responding to residents' concerns and addressing a major problem in Richmondshire," said county councillor and Richmondshire Community Safety Partnership member Carl Les.

"The number of casualties arising from road accidents is a serious problem and we are determined to reduce it and make the roads safer for everybody."

The project will also be complemented by a road safety campaign in schools, while Richmond company Dambach which supplied the matrices and speed gun, has also offered future support to the partnership at road safety events.

"Education is the best form of enforcement and, if by targeting young children as well as their parents, we can change people's attitudes to speeding issues, we are halfway to achieving our aim," said partnership chairman and Richmondshire district councillor Lynn Miller.