DRIVERS racing through a North Yorkshire village face being logged by residents in a newly-established "black book".

Villagers in North Stainley, near Ripon, have set up the incident book to build evidence of speeding drivers over the next 12 months.

It is part of a long-running campaign to secure traffic- calming measures.

The parish council has placed the book in the post office where residents can write details of speeding cars, near misses and accidents, on the busy Ripon to Masham road.

Even the village duck population has fallen victim to excessive speeding, with several reported killed after venturing on to the road.

The idea won parish council backing after efforts to secure traffic calming on the A6108 failed because there had not been enough accidents, or evidence of speeding.

Now villagers are ready to record high-speed drivers, every accident or near miss with date, time and location.

At the end of 12 months a dossier will be presented to North Yorkshire Police and the county council, in a bid to secure anti-speeding measures.

North Stainley and Sleningford Parish Council chairman, Piers England, said: "It's not a naming and shaming book, but the village is very concerned about speeding motorists, particularly near the school.

"When we put forward our case we did not have facts and figures to back us up. The book is open to anyone in the village to record an entry," he said.

Parish councillor Claire Williams said: "We managed to get the speed limit down to 30mph from 40mph, but people still speed through, particularly commuters early in the morning. There are fears a serious accident will happen unless people drive more slowly."