Turning up the heat on speeding! Desperate villagers use hairdryers as 'speed guns' to slow drivers

Residents of a tiny village fed up with speeding drivers have taken matters into their own hands – literally.

They have resorted to holding hairdryers as pretend speed guns to scare motorists in slowing down on the roads.

Villagers decided to take the law into their own hands after motorists kept ignoring the 30mph speed limit on the B-road which runs through their community.

They say cars drive through Hopeman, Moray, at such high speeds that it is only a matter of time before a child is hit. But the Scottish villagers have now set up an action group to combat the menace.

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Some of the members have taken to the roadside in fluorescent jackets – and are now pointing the nozzles of their hairdryers towards the road.

Councillor Dennis Slater, who lives in Hopeman, said the bizarre idea shows how desperate the situation is.

He said: “The speeding is just outrageous and we’ve been working closely with the police who have been doing their best.

“But the locals have taken the law into their own hands. It’s gotten to the point where you see kids standing at the side of the road with hairdryers.

“It’s a desperate measure that the local people and children are taking. They are putting on on hi-vis jackets and mimicking speed cameras with hairdryers.”

Mother-of-three Carmen Gillies, 38, said her children have created 30mph signs to attach to lampposts outside their home.

With no pavement on the family’s side of the street, their driveway has become an impromptu bus stop for children in the evenings.

Mrs Gillies said: “I’ve heard of people standing with hairdryers in the street to get people to slow down. It might all sound like a joke but these are the sorts of lengths we have to go to to make sure our children are safe.

“The main worry is crossing the road. It’s the main road through Hopeman and people just don’t slow down.

“We want to do anything we can to stop an accident before it happens. We want to take action now if it’s preventable.”

Mrs Gillies’ neighbour, Cath Lyall, said: “Our children have started signalling to drivers to slow down and some of them have given the finger back – they think they own the road.

Plans are now being drawn up to launch an action group in the village to come up with initiatives to get the message through to drivers.

PC Roy Cook insisted regular spot checks were done in the area. He said: “We have had a number of complaints regarding speeding in Hopeman, which we will continue to address.

“This aligns with one of our priorities and supports Operation Cedar, which concentrates on reducing the number of serious and fatal traffic incidents in the north-east.”