VOLUNTEERS in Queen’s Park are working on plans to set up a community speed watch group.

Concerns have been raised about the number of speeding drivers on the area’s roads, prompting its ward councillor to pursue ways of tackling the problem.

Cllr Mark Anderson has been trying to establish a speed watch group which he says would help “reassure” people living in the area.

Community speed watch groups are trained to use radar guns for measuring vehicles’ speeds and information is then passed to police who can send letters to people exceeding limits.

Cllr Anderson met with a group of residents in Queen’s Park on Monday and gathered enough volunteers to begin work to set up a community speed watch group.

“Queen’s Park suffers with the problem of having a lot of long, straight roads,” he said. “I’ve heard from lots of people living in various issues all reporting the issue of speeding.

“We want to make sure that the roads are safe, there are a lot of elderly people and children in the area and, as a councillor, it’s one of the main complaints I hear.

“Hopefully once this is up and running we can offer a bit of reassurance.”

He added that several people had told him they were willing to volunteer in the group, exceeding the police's minimum requirement.

The scheme has been promoted by Dorset Police which, it says, “helps to build stronger communities”.

Speaking earlier this month, Dorset police and crime commissioner Martyn Underhill described community speed watch as "an incredible scheme".

In order to establish a group, a minimum of six volunteers is required and training is provided by police officers.

Cllr Anderson said that now enough volunteers had expressed an interest in taking part, he would write to police to start the process of forming a group.

He added that he hoped to secure funding to buy the group its own speed gun to avoid reliance on shared police equipment.