A PETITION urging for a change in speed limit before ‘another fatality’ occurs on a busy road through Sampford Courtenay is being handed to Devon County Council today (Thursday).

Residents are calling for action to be taken on the Crediton Road between Sampford Courtenay Station, The Beeches, The Countryman Pub and Courtenay Kennels, which they say has been used as a ‘race track’ for years.

Kim Allsebrook, a resident of The Beeches, started the petition due to concerns of excessive car speeds of up to 70mph, making exiting The Beeches ‘exceedingly difficult and dangerous’.

As well as the petition, Kim has video footage of a four-car crash and gathered statements from residents about their experiences of speeding on the road.

‘They drive along there way too fast, Kim said. ‘As people come out of the side roads onto the that road, they may as well be doing it blind. There have been so many near misses — you really do take your life into your own hands.

‘Sixty miles per hour along there is just ridiculous. We know there has been one fatality on that stretch of a motorcyclist, but the police said there has to be two fatalities before anything can be done.’

Kim said they had asked the police for a mobile speed camera to judge the average speed of traffic but they said it was ‘too dangerous’ for someone to stand on that road.

Kim said that The Beeches had around 50 residents, the majority over 60, and there were other dwellings adjacent to The Beeches and Sampford Courtenay Station which were also affected by excessive speeds, particularly as there were no footpaths.

Kim added: ‘The Beeches, with 31 residences, combined with the additional houses around the station and the factory unit at the station gives us a combined population that equals some small villages that have 30mph speed limits on the roads that pass through them, We see no reason why we cannot achieve this for our environment.’

The petition has been backed by Devon County Councillor for Hatherleigh and Chagford (which covers Sampford Courtenay) Cllr James McInnes, who has offered to hand the petition over to the full meeting of Devon County Council today (Thursday, October 3).

Cllr McInnes said: ‘There is considerable concern in this community and I support a speed restriction from Sampford Station to The Countryman on the B3215. This needs to be looked at again.’

Cllr McInnes will present the petition to leader of Devon County Council Cllr John Hart. He said it would then be given to the highways department to investigate and would be likely to be discussed at a future West Devon Highwayand Traffic Order Committee meeting.