INNERLEITHEN and District Community Council (IDCC) has been chosen to take part in a pilot Community Speedwatch (CSW) scheme in the Borders.

The news was announced on Monday and the group will nominate four volunteers to take training and guidance with Police Scotland.

They will also need to apply for level one Police Scotland vetting to use police equipment and supply data to officers.

It is more than four years since former councillor Heather Anderson highlighted the scheme at a Tweeddale Area Partnership meeting.

CSW is a not for profit social enterprise, founded in the South East of England in 2012, after frustration with the “lack of measurable effects from a speed watch group’s extensive activity”.

Its directors, Jan Jung and Simon Mansfield, have been awarded twice, for their ideas and efforts – in 2017 winning the home office’s Lord Ferrer’s Technical Award and in 2018 won the European Road Safety Award.

CSW is a national initiative where local community volunteers, with the support and supervision of the police record details of speeding vehicles using “approved detection devices”.

On the CSW Online website it states: “Registered keepers of vehicles exceeding the speed limit are contacted -–initially with a letter explaining the potential risks and consequences of their dangerous behaviour.

“Repeat offenders will receive a visit from the local police, irrespective of where they live. Beyond these friendly gestures, focused enforcement and criminal prosecution follow based on the collated evidence.”

On the CSW website it emphasises that there is no direct enforcement of speed limits by Community Speedwatch volunteers.

Any enforcement should always be conducted by the police and never in the presence of speed watch volunteers.