POLICE are set to use radar guns to halt speeding motorists on a busy Port Glasgow street.

Officers will use the hand-held devices in a bid to slow traffic down on Lilybank Road.

The move follows several complaints by residents, who say the situation is an ‘accident waiting to happen’.

One of them, Finlay Campbell, said: “Similar to most residential streets in Inverclyde, there are older residents, and very young children and family pets also live on Lilybank Road. 

“Within the last year, there have been a number of serious accidents so it’s only a matter of time until someone gets seriously hurt.

“When the houses on Lilybank Road were built there was no traffic, now it’s a rat run.

“Some drivers race up the road at twice the speed limit.”

Mr Campbell says most drivers are considerate and it is a minority who are causing problems.

He has cautiously welcomed the police’s new initiative to combat the problem, saying it is a ‘step in the right direction’.

He added: “It’s better than nothing but I would like to see more permanent traffic calming measures.

“Police have finite resources and I feel these could be better used elsewhere.”

Port councillor Drew McKenzie, inset, says he has been inundated with complaints from residents in the street about irresponsible motorists.

He said: “Since being elected I have had numerous representations from residents on Lilybank Road regarding speeding motorists.

“Lilybank Road is probably taking much more traffic than it was initially designed for and with cars parked constantly on both sides it is a road where great care should be exercised.

“The police and the council have considered the situation and analysed data taken from road surveys. 

“These surveys clearly show that the vast majority of drivers drive carefully to the conditions but the anecdotal evidence suggests that there are regular maniacs using the road at great speed and there have been a fair number of road accidents reported.”

Cllr McKenzie hopes the new crackdown will make an impact.
He added: “At the Port Glasgow Community Council meeting the matter was brought up by the police themselves.

“PC Willie Gorrie informed the meeting that the community police had recently been trained in the use of the hand-held radar gun and that Lilybank Road would be one of the areas that would be specifically targeted. 

“It was agreed it would be desirable to really publicise that this action is intended, which hopefully might deter the actual speeding in the first place.”