CONCERN has been expressed at the reduction in visits to villages by mobile speed camera units. New rules coming into force in April mean that visits to sites where there is concern about speeding will be cut back dramatically.

The main work of the Wiltshire and Swindon Safety Camera Partnership is concentrated on 109 sites that have a proven history of collisions resulting in serious injury and fatalities.

The partnership has discretion to monitor and enforce the speed limit at sites which do not have a serious injury accident record but which communities are concerned about.

There are 100 such sites that are classed as community concern sites.

Sgt Nick Blencowe said his officers visited each site two or three times a month. He said the new rules would restrict them to visiting each site to once a month.

He said: "The presence of our vehicle and warning signs have a deterrent effect and is usually welcomed by the community."

David Frampton, manager of the partnership, said: "I am not happy about the changes. It will completely restrict what we do. We want to be able to respond to parish councils who have got a speeding issue. Our presence at a site gives us the opportunity to try to prevent accidents.

"The Department for Transport is saying to partnerships that they must concentrate on sites where there is a history of collisions.

"We do that and we still have time to visit the sites which don't have a history of collisions but where there are concerns, but the new rules will constrain us."

The partnership has written to the Department for Transport saying the changes will constrain the way the mobile camera units operate.

Mr Frampton received support from Wiltshire County Council's overview and scrutiny management committee which has agreed to write to the Transport Secretary Alastair Darling to object to the changes which are as a result of a consultation by the Government with motoring organisations.

The partnership has asked Wiltshire Constabulary to write to the Department for Transport in support of its view.

Wiltshire's Assistant Chief Constable Peter Vaughan said: "This change will place an extra burden on the traffic departments in order to respond to complaints from members of the public concerning speeding motorists."