Speeding drivers are putting the brakes on after a retired police
officer from Wearside erected a bird box that resembles a speed
camera.
Bill Angus, 64, attached the yellow box to a pole at the front of his
property in Newbottle, near Sunderland.
Villagers claim motorists regularly travel at speeds of up to 70mph
despite the main road having a 30mph limit.
Road safety experts say they have no problem with the bird box and
welcome any associated reductions in speed.
Residents have previously called for a static speed camera in the
area, but so far only mobile cameras have been used.
Mr Angus said he painted the box bright yellow to attract small birds
like blue tits.
He said: “If people want to think it is a speed camera and if it
slows them down, then that’s fantastic, but for all intents and
purposes it is a bird box.
“We have got a lot of residents who have to reverse their cars out on
to the main Sunderland Road and you can look left and right and think
it’s clear but then in a split second someone is flying down at 60 or
70mph.
“I would like the council to put a speed camera in on this road. If
this brings attention to the problem then I’m happy.”
Mr Angus said he decided to build the bird box during the recent cold
snap.
He added: “I take an interest in the birds and residents were being
advised to put extra bird boxes in the garden during the very cold
weather.”
A spokesman for the Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative (NSRI) said:
“If he wants to have a bird box that looks like a camera then that’s
up to the gentleman concerned.
“If it’s slowing traffic down as far as we’re concerned it’s a good
thing.”