Duncan Barkes: Campaigners with speed guns...

Motorists elsewhere had better watch out. In Worthing, a consultation has been approved, with people set to be asked for their views on a reduced speed limit in certain residential streets.

The majority will not bother to respond – and, therefore, you can argue that it serves them right – but the minority will shout loudly.

If Worthing goes the same way as Chichester (although a poll of Worthing Herald readers, the results of which were published last week, suggested that 83 per cent were against the idea), drivers can expect inconsistent applying of the limit leading to general confusion about where is 20 and where is not.

Under the guise of road safety, campaigners will bang the drum, protesting that the streets need to be reclaimed. But their real motive, I believe, is a green one.

Some supporters of lower limits want people out of their motors and on foot or bike. It is also interesting to note that one of the Chichester campaigners is a Green Party activist.

There is still a distinct lack of hard evidence that a reduced 20mph speed limit improves road safety, but you highlight this at your peril.

My advice to Worthing councillors is to be careful.

20’s Plenty campaigners in the town have already taken email responses from councillor Michael Cloake and plastered them all over their website, with some pretty sarcastic rebuttals.

The latest move in Chichester to recruit volunteers to monitor motorists in roads affected by a 20 limit has a potent whiff of vigilantism about it.

Campaigners have forked out nearly £200 for a speed gun and have received permission from Sussex Police to record number plates and speeds of cars doing more than 20mph.

Would Sussex Police grant similar permission to motorists to try and curb the cyclists on our streets who cycle at night with no lights, ride on the pavement or seem unable to comprehend that a red traffic light means stop? I very much doubt it.

These new powers given to Chichester campaigners are farcical. If they want to convince sceptics that their agenda is more than simply ‘four wheels bad’, they should try to influence us with the weight of their argument. Instead they will be lurking at the roadside, clipboard and speed gun in hand, looking like the busiest busybody in town.

I accept that many 20’s Plenty campaigners genuinely believe they are doing a good thing, but this latest development does not help their cause. It just makes things more sinister.

• Agree or disagree with columnist Duncan Barkes’ views? Email [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected], or comment below.