A SOUTH Lakeland parish council is hoping to deter speed demons through the use of a strategically placed plastic policeman.

Milnthorpe Parish Council has christened their copper PC Speedy and it is hoped his presence in the village will put the brakes on foot-to-the-floor motorists.

PC Speedy was suggested by Cllr Peter Capasso after he saw the deterrent value of the plastic policeman who 'patrols' the road through Orton.

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"I went to watch our local football team at Appleby and we came back through Orton," Cllr Peter Capasso said. "And as you drop into Orton, there's one there looking at you."

Cllr Capasso thought that the idea could be utilised in Milnthorpe as an 'inexpensive' way to tackle speeding drivers.

"Ours is on the road from Crooklands into Milnthorpe," he explained. "But we're going to keep shifting him because people will become complacent.

"It's 30mph at Ackenthwaite but it's fairly suburban and people tend to not bother. We've got a Smiley Sid (speed indicator device) near where the kids cross but we thought this might deter a few people as they enter the village."

PC Speedy cost the council £92, plus an additional £7 for fixings to ensure that he cannot be taken from his vantage point.

Cllr Capasso only placed the figure on the road on Thursday (March 22) night, making it too soon to tell if it has already had any impact.

"There's plenty of people there to monitor it and the effects," he said. "It certainly worked in Orton. You come down round the corner and you see this fella with a camera and it makes you think."

To ensure that it does not cause more harm than good, Cllr Capasso chose a straight bit of road rather than a bend to place the figure on.

"It's just prior to where there's a lot of young families and kids walking to school," he said. "It's just a bit of effort on our behalf. We can't do so much as a parish council but we can do our little bit."

Meanwhile, a replica police officer with a speed gun was taken from Shap village on Saturday (March 24) between 3-5.30pm.

If you have any information or the replica is found, contact Cumbria Police on 101 quoting incident number CP-20180324-0236.