A SUCCESSFUL scheme to reduce traffic speeds at an accident blackspot has prompted calls for the idea to be expanded across the Stockton borough.

Residents and councillors had been campaigning for years to have the 40mph speed limit on Mitchell Avenue, Thornaby, reduced to 30mph.

Concern over traffic speeds reached a peak in December last year when promising Hartlepool United footballer Daniel Stewart, 14, was knocked over and killed while crossing the road.

In March, Stockton Borough Council imposed a 30mph limit on the stretch of road and recent speed surveys have revealed that drivers are taking note of the new measures.

Before the new limit was introduced, the average speed on Mitchell Avenue was 38mph, with a top speed recorded at 54mph.

Since then, the average speed has dropped to 32mph with a maximum of 41mph.

Councillor Stephen Smailes, Conservative group leader on Stockton council, said the success of the scheme must be repeated elsewhere.

He said: "They might have had success on this road in Thornaby, but we should be looking at the rest of the borough. Every part of Stockton has an accident blackspot, so they should all be targeted for speed reduction.

"We all know the main perpetrators are generally lads under 25 years old, who have little experience of driving. It is they who are more likely to speed at 20 or 30mph over the speed limit, who should be targeted, not the rest of us who do 34mph as a matter of course."

As well as reduced limits, improvements to Mitchell Avenue include pedestrian refuges, better traffic signals at the Allensway junction and road narrowing measures.

Stockton council's transport engineer, Bill Trewick, said: "It is too early to say what success the scheme has had in terms of accident reduction because we tend to compare the three years before the scheme's introduction with the three years following.

"But, with a six mile-an-hour reduction in speed, I would anticipate a 30 per cent drop in accidents."