Frustration as camera scheme aimed at making the streets around Shropshire schools safer is suspended
Residents near a Shropshire school have expressed their frustration after a county-wide pilot scheme aimed at reducing congestion and to make the streets safer had to be suspended.
In November last year Shropshire Council erected signs and switched on Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras outside five schools in the county under the 'School Streets' programme - intended to improve safety for children heading to and from school.
The scheme meant that drivers entering the 'School Streets' zone during certain times without a permit risked a fine of £70 - or £35 if paid within 21 days.
The scheme was piloted at Market Drayton Junior School, Gobowen Primary School, Woodside Primary School in Oswestry, Mereside Primary School in Shrewsbury, and Whitchurch Junior School.
However, residents who live near the schools have said that the scheme has been suspended, with signs and cameras now covered up.
Tony O'nions, who lives on the Springfield Estate near Mereside Primary School in Shrewsbury, said the scheme had begun to work when it went live.
"We have put up with it for years. The traffic here is dreadful at 9am and 3pm when people are dropping their kids off," he said. "We have raised a petition and been on at the council, and then last year they finally came out and put these cameras and signs up.
