OVER half of motorists travelling in the Tonbridge area are breaking the speed limit, a Courier investigation has found.

Reporters registered the speeds for an hour at three separate locations in Tonbridge, Hildenborough and Hadlow with a professional speed gun – and a total of 58 per cent were breaking the limit.

Speeds recorded on Hildenborough's London Road – the same road as Sackville School – proved the most worrying.

A startling 75 per cent of drivers of the 186 observed exceeded the 40mph limit, with the most reckless reaching a breakneck speed of 78mph.

Terry Barton, chairman of Hildenborough Parish Council, said: "I'm very disappointed to hear these results.

"It seems that nothing will really stop a driver speeding until someone jumps out at them."

Fellow councillor Colmar Lewis expressed the same opinion, especially considering motorcyclist Steve Rundle was killed on the same road in 2008.

"It'll take another fatal accident before the police and the county council can decide what the appropriate speed should be," he said.

"There's been a problem with speeding for a while and there have been discussions to reduce the limit to 30mph.

"My personal opinion is that there should be a 30mph limit from Morley's roundabout right through to Tonbridge."

Motorists were also clocked exceeding the 40mph limit upon entering Hadlow village, where 42 per cent of the 179 drivers observed broke the barrier.

And we even clocked a police motorbike driving 1mph over the limit on Hadlow Road.

This might not seem like a considerable amount, but speed campaigners argue that a 1mph reduction in average speed can reduce accident frequency by five per cent.

At the top of Quarry Hill Road, Tonbridge, 57 per cent of drivers were found to be going over the limit as they entered the town.

Tonbridge Neighbourhood Policing officer, Sgt Jon Turtle said that many residents have raised the issue of speeding with him.

He added: "Residents know that speed is a contributory factor in many road traffic incidents. Anyone who has witnessed a serious or fatal road traffic incident knows only too well what these dangers are."

Department of Transport statistics show that there is a substantial difference in the risk of causing death or serious injury when driving even just a few miles above 30mph.

Pedestrians hit at 40mph face just a 10 per cent chance of survival compared with an 80 per cent chance if they are hit at 30mph.

Our statistics:

London Road, Hildenborough: 139 speeding out of 186 (75%)

Hadlow Road, Hadlow: 76/179 (42%)

Quarry Hill Road, Tonbridge: 137/242 (57%)