Residents of an Angus street plagued by “boy racers” and near misses have taken traffic calming into their own hands.
A new speed sign appeared overnight at the top of Tannage Brae in Kirriemuir town centre this week.
The sign asks for drivers heading towards the Wee Red Toon’s historic conservation area to “please drive carefully” at 10mph.
The plastic sign, mounted at stepladder height, is not an Angus Council one and the official speed limit for the area is 30mph, but locals have greeted the move as sensible.
It follows police activity on the brae, which joins the Glengate with Knowehead and offers an ambling walk to the Den, last month after a car was damaged by hooded youths.
The move occurred ahead of a busy weekend at the Den, as Kirriemuir Rotary Club hold their Easter duck race and fun day on Sunday afternoon.
Shop assistant Diane Lloyd said she believed caution should be urged on the town’s older roads.
“There’s a lot of boy racers who go around the one-way system and a few times at night and then go down the brae as a bit of a diversion,” she said.
“But there’s only room for one car coming in and out at a time, and there’s a lot of scrapes and near-misses you hear about. The roads here weren’t built for all these cars, so it’s probably time to slow down.”
Tayside Division of Police Scotland could not be reached for comment.
The practice of printing and placing unofficial road signs is something of a modern phenomenon.
Congestion and safety fears prompted an unofficial sign to be placed near the new Forfar Community Campus as it was nearing completion earlier this year, which was quickly taken down by police.
And local officers took a dim view when residents in Coupar Angus put up their own 20mph speed signs following the death of two-year-old Harlow Edwards, who was struck by a car that mounted the pavement.