VANDALS who attacked 50mph speed limit signs on Bingley Bypass by defacing them with spray paint have been described as “idiots” and “morons” who are putting people’s safety at risk.

The parallel signs are before the Treacle Cock Alley bridge and face traffic from Crossflatts approaching a bend before the slip road to Bingley.

One sign bears the initials BB in white, while the other is covered with a pink daub of paint.

Councillor David Heseltine (Con, Bingley) said: “It is staggering that idiots vandalise safety signs, 50 is there for a reason...this is a safety issue.”

Earlier this month officers from Operation Steerside, which police started on the back of the Telegraph & Argus’ Stop The Danger Drivers campaign, caught someone speeding at 130pm on the bypass, also known as Bingley Relief Road.

The driver of the Golf R32 was stopped just after midnight on May 16 after reaching 134mph.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said the 20-year-old Keighley man was reported for summons for various offences, including speeding and driving without insurance.

On May 1, Steerside officers caught two drivers from Keighley doing 115mph and 109mph on the 50mph stretch of the Bingley Bypass where the signs have been painted.

Cllr Heseltine added: “When caught both vandals and the irresponsible drivers should be named and shamed, not wait months and months for the court appearance.

“We need to make this driving and disregard for public property socially unacceptable.

“Let’s kill the ‘cool factor’ and show these idiots up for what they are.

“We have two sets of stocks in Bingley may be a spell of ridicule should be considered followed by a long jail sentence.”

Shipley Conservative MP Philip Davies added: “The morons who have done it are extremely irresponsible and I trust Bradford Council will put them right as soon as possible.

“This is a good argument for CCTV so we can identify the people responsible and bring them to account.”

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s executive member for regeneration, planning and transport, said such vandalism was costly and caused inconvenience.

“These mindless acts of vandalism not only cost the council money, but they also have the potential to cause delays for motorists, as in order to clean them safely we will have to close lanes of the bypass.

“If these signs can not be cleaned then they will need to be replaced at a further cost to council tax payers and the potential for further delays to motorists.”

Sergeant Cameron Buchan, who is leading the Operation Steerside crackdown on dangerous drivers in Bradford district, described the speeds reached in the most recent incidents as “unacceptable and unjustifiable”.

A police spokesman said the graffiti had not been reported to the force.