Wealden police crackdown on anti-social driving

Over the last few months neighbourhood policing officers, the roads policing unit and police enforcement teams have been conducting proactive patrols to target anti-social driving and speeding on the roads across Wealden.

The activity is supported by Operation Downsway, a force level initiative which started in September 2020 and has been welcomed, say police, by communities across Sussex.

Between September and December 2020 the force says there was a significant degree of enforcement activity on Wealden roads – the majority of which was coordinated by the neighbourhood policing team.

Working closely with volunteers from Community Speed Watch, officers and PCSOs have been responsible for 154 sessions, 29 of which were supported by community support officers.

These sessions generated more than 1,800 reports to Operation Crackdown.

Along with this, 11 speed and anti-social driving check points were set up with 58 drivers stopped and given advisory warnings for various road traffic matters while three vehicles were seized for being driven with no insurance.

Two people were arrested for drink-driving, two others were arrested for other crime matters and two reports were issued to riders of motorcycles with excessively loud exhausts.

Police Sergeant Kara Tombling said, “Our road safety activity will continue to visit all parts of the district. The results achieved in the four months before Christmas have been a good start and we will continue to build on this approach. Importantly, we are speaking regularly to our town and parish councils to share information about hotspot locations and move our deployments accordingly.”

Road safety has been a long held priority for police and partner agencies in Wealden and is reflected within the priorities of the Safer Wealden Partnership, according to the police.

Councillor Philip Lunn, Wealden cabinet member for community and public health, said, “Community Speed Watch volunteers, working closely with Wealden Police, continue to play an important role in Wealden helping to reduce road accidents and save lives.

“We welcome these results which are helping to reduce speeding and anti-social driving - issues of concern to many communities across Wealden.”