NORTH Craven villages should be safer after Ingleton Police were presented with their own speed gun courtesy of local funding.

North Yorkshire County Council's Craven area committee awarded a grant for the £4,500 radar gun at the request of Ingleton representative Coun David Ireton, and this was match funded by the Ingleton Rural Community Association (IRCA).

Mary Kendall of the IRCA hopes it will encourage drivers to cut their speed reducing deaths and injuries on North Craven roads.

"Residents and visitors were complaining of vehicles exceeding the speed limits in and around our village and being a threat to pedestrians and other motorists," she said.

"We cannot value human life highly enough and if the speed gun can persuade drivers to go slower, so reducing the risk of serious injury or death for even one person, then it will be worth every penny."

Chairman of the IRCA, Carl Lis added: "I hope it goes some way to stop some of the problems we have had with speeding vehicles, particularly motorbikes."

Ingleton county councillor David Ireton said the village had to buy its own speed gun as police were having to share equipment across the district.

He said: "Every time I went to a parish council problems were raised about speeding, particularly motorcycles, through the various villages.

"The police always said the one (speed gun) they had was too old or broken or shared with lots of other places.

"I thought as it was a big community safety issue we should do something about having one permanently for Ingleton police to use. I think when there are problems identified we have to act on them."

The police are delighted with their new piece of equipment which they say will make their job easier.

PC Harry Carpenter said: "We would like to thank the IRCA for contributing towards the cost.

"The Government has the THINK campaign and we are looking at driver education and road safety as priorities. In the villages especially we are concentrating on the 30 and 40mph limits in Ingleton, Bentham and Clapham."

Meanwhile, the days of bobbies on bikes are returning to North Craven.

Local traders joined forces with the Crime Reduction Partnership to buy the 24-gear Hard Rock mountain bike in a bid to boost police presence on the streets.

Officers Andy McClurg and Harry Carpenter, both keen cyclists, have now been posted on bike patrol and have clocked up 70 miles in two weeks.

Landlords Eric Harrison, of the Three Horseshoes at Ingleton and Colin Elsdon, of the Marton Arms, Thornton-in-Lonsdale helped buy the bike, together with Pennine Rock at Hanson Aggregates and Alan Steele of Ingle Sports Climbing Wall.

PC Carpenter said: "The bike has gone down very well with people. They like to see us about and are happy to stop for a chat.

"We have a policy of high visibility patrolling which can be sitting at key points such as roundabouts in vehicles and on foot patrol. We cover quite a big area and thought the best way to cover it would be on a bike. People can speak to us unlike being in a car."

Vicky Harrison, landlady of the Three Horseshoes, believes the bike is an asset to the village.

"It gets the police nearer to the community, especially in relation to the younger people. It will get them more in tune with what's going on," she said.