Okehampton residents have banded together to tackle speeding problems on Crediton Road following news of a mum’s campaign for a zebra crossing near the primary school.

Frankie Cox, who lives on Crediton Road, has long campaigned for the police and Devon County Council to resolve the speeding problem and has now joined forces with Kay Grundon, an Okehampton mum who is petitioning for a zebra crossing by St James Primary School.

Mrs Cox said: ‘I would never have known about Kay if I didn’t see the Okehampton Times and I found her number and got in touch. She told me she felt like she was banging her head against a brick wall, she wasn’t getting anywhere.

‘What Kay’s doing at the school is fantastic but we also need something before that. I think it could be very dangerous as drivers might slam on the brakes at the zebra crossing so they need something on this stretch of road before the school because they will not be speeding when they get to the school.’

The two are now in communication as they battle their respective campaigns.

Mrs Cox, who has lived in Okehampton since the 1980s, said she and her husband had steadily seen the amount of traffic and the number of speeding incidents increase.

In frustration, she raised her concerns with local councillors, Devon Highways and Okehampton Police but thinks that a meeting between local authorities and residents should take place in order to work out a plan of action.

She said: ‘Where we have a problem is people come up the hill and accelerate and then put their foot down. They slam on their brakes if they are going to the housing estate but they still speed if they’re passing through. They’re going at a speed where someone is going to be killed.

‘Preferably I would like to see everyone round the table. We should not have to put up with the speed they are going down the road. We have had enough with the amount of traffic. We need speed calming measures and the local authorities need to look at the issues on this road. I’m not doing this just for me - this is for the community as a whole.’

The women’s two campaigns to resolve speeding issues on the road have coincided with a recent police speed check carried out in Crediton Road in July during which nearly half of all vehicles recorded were travelling above the 30mph speed limit. Of those speeding 11 drivers were caught going over 35mph who were then asked why they were speeding by children from St James Primary School.

In response to the police’s speed checks Mrs Cox wrote to Devon Highways, asking it to consider implementing speed reducing measures on the road.

In its reply, Devon Highways said: ‘The latest available data for this location shows no collisions here in the last five years, so won’t support any changes at this time.

‘The recent speed check in Crediton Road undertook by the police showed good compliance with the current 30mph speed limit. The police have the powers to enforce the speed limit & have not contacted DCC to say they think there is an issue at this location.’