A road safety campaigning pensioner is refusing to get in a flap after council chiefs told him to dismantle a joke speed camera in the shape of a bird box painted yellow.
Geoff Leighton, 83, erected the decoy camera on a home-made 30mph sign outside his home on Barnsley Road at Sandal, Wakefield, last November.
He turned to DIY road safety techniques after batting in vain for years to get an official speed limit sign installed.
Wakefield Council chiefs say the amateur speed control measures are illegal and dangerous as they could distract divers.
But Mr Leighton said cars and trucks reach speeds of up to 70mph on 30mph Barnsley Road and is refusing to dismantle his DIY efforts.
He has attached a petition to the sign, which has been signed by 100 people backing his call for official signs to be installed.
Mr Leighton said the council erected 12 inch by 18 inch 30mph signs – which he claims drivers cannot see – on the stretch of road after the speed limit was reduced from 40mph in 2006/7.
He said: “It was a neighbour’s idea to get a bird box and paint it yellow to look like a speed camera.
“I just want a speed limit sign to be there. It’s my conscience that makes me keep the sign there. If someone got killed by a speeding driver on this road and I hadn’t done anything then I would have to live with it.”
Earlier this week police issued four speeding tickets to drivers caught doing between 38 and 54 mph outside Mr Leighton’s home.
PC Ashley Wood said: “This is a highly populated residential area with many dog walkers, children and pedestrians. The 30mph speed limit is set to keep members of the public safe. We take this very seriously and will regularly be enforcing the speed limit in the area. We will be trying our best to improve the issue.”
Bob Taylor, Wakefield Council’s enforcement manager said: “We are trying to help Mr Leighton as much as we can but this is an illegal sign. There are 30mph signs on this road and from a road safety perspective this sign could actually distract drivers and cause danger. We have told Mr Leighton we will take down the sign free of charge and have no intention of prosecuting, but that he must remain within the law.”
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