FED-UP with the constant dangers of speeding traffic residents in a south Shropshire village put up their own warning signs – only to have them removed by Shropshire Council.

They’re angry about being exposed to the the dangers of speeding cars, lorries and motorbikes and want something done about it.

The council says the signs were taken down for safety reasons and that it is investigating the issue of speed.

Wheathill residents form-ed a concern group in 2014.

In March the group submitted a statement to the council, including a petition with 207 signatures and photographs of accidents that have occurred.

They are campaigning for a statutory 40mph speed limit on the B4364 and financial assistance to install road signs and other traffic-calming measures.

Villagers say they have followed advice from police and Shropshire Council to slow traffic including installing flower boxes at the end of drives and erecting house signs.

They claim the council agreed to install strips to measure the speed of the traffic but that this has not happened so far.

In the meantime, in desperation they took matters into their own hands and erected home-made signs along the stretch of road, but these have been removed.

Ann Sutcliffe, who chairs the road safety group in the village, says people are living in fear and unable to live normal lives.

“One resident is too afraid to walk her baby in his buggy to visit her mother who lives only next door,” she said.

“Another is afraid to install a gate into her drive because she simply does not dare to leave her car in the road for 30 seconds and get out to open the gate.

“There is another resident who while riding her horse on the road, in front of her daughter on her pony, had her stirrup clipped by the wing mirror of a speeding car.

“Many of us feel unable to walk to the pub, but drive the 400 yards to get there, because it is just too dangerous. We believe it's a matter of chance that no walkers, riders, cyclists, or villager tending their garden has been killed.”

The villagers say they are devastated by the removal of their road signs and that the council is concerned about the hazard caused by the signs but not prepared to act on the problem of speeding traffic.

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The temporary unauthorised campaign signs in Wheathill were removed primarily because they represent an obstruction under the terms of the Highways Act and, as a result, may hazard traffic safety.

“ Shropshire Council has agreed to investigate the request made by the parish council to reduce the speed limit from 60 to 40mph and will begin this by carrying out surveys of existing speeds travelled in order to establish if local perceptions are borne out by the facts, and by consulting on the viability of any reduced limit.

“Further progress on the level of a new limit and its termination points will depend on the outcome of these consultations.”