I bought £3k speed camera for a 30mph road – the results are staggering

A FURIOUS resident has revealed how he bought a £3,000 speed camera for his road to stop cars racing past his cafe.

Paul Hooper, 57, from Swansea, splashed out on the camera after he became frustrated with the council's failure to stop speeding drivers on the 30mph road.

He claimed that the new camera has picked up one vehicle travelling at 106mph and many others exceeding 70mph.

But Swansea Council said that its regular speed monitoring showed that most drivers stayed within the limit.

Paul installed the French-made camera in November, and said that in one 39-day period, it clocked 149,387 vehicles travelling over 30mph past Hooper's Cafe, of which 273 were going over 70mph.

He claimed that the camera, which he put up outside the cafe, has a 1mph margin of error.

The cafe owner also slammed the noise made by passing cars at night, adding that he did not realise how much there would be when he bought the premises.

He told : "I didn't realise how much it would be. I expected that it wasn't going to be constant.

"It's supposed to be 30mph. I didn't realise how fast cars would go in the evenings."

Paul described the results of his speed survey as "staggering", and said that Oystermouth Road "could well be the fastest 30mph road in the UK".

Other residents on the road backed Paul's decision to take action against speeding motorists.

Tina Curtis said: "It's beyond a joke. How somebody has not been killed, I just don't know."

Don Astill said: "At night it's like Brands Hatch out there. They race from the lights near Swansea Prison up to the Slip Bridge.

"The music is going boom, boom, boom, and they are flying."

Philip Curtis said: "It's blinking terrible. It's a built-up area, for goodness sakes. We've given up complaining."

Local MP Geraint Davies also gave his support to the cafe owner's vigilante speed trap.

He said: "I share Mr Hooper's concerns on road safety and air quality and will be writing to the police to ask if local hand-held speed traps can be deployed from time to time to help reduce speeding along our seafront."

Paul now plans to ask the council for planning permission to switch on a flashing sign warning drivers to slow down.

He added that he is so frustrated, he might switch on the sign even if he doesn't get the council's approval.

Swansea Council said: "We regularly monitor the speed of cars travelling along Oystermouth Road, which show that the majority of traffic travels within the speed limit.

"A very low number of minor traffic incidents along this route in recent years means it is unlikely there would be a need for additional traffic calming measures."