Police in Tandridge have drawn on the success of the Community Speedwatch and School Speedwatch schemes already being run in the area by joining forces for the first time with a local Scout group.

The boys, aged between 10 and 12, from the 11th Caterham Scout Group joined Tandridge Casualty Reduction Officer PC Moira Cocks and other members of the Caterham Safer Neighbourhood Team in monitoring the speed of vehicles in Godstone Road, Caterham, during the early evening of Thursday, 28th June.

The group's Scout Hall is near where the operation took place and the youngsters were all given the opportunity to monitor the speed of the motorists coming in to Caterham and encourage drivers to slow down. Drivers exceeding the 30 mph speed limit were stopped by police officers and then spoken to by the Scouts who asked them a series of questions relating to their journey and their speed.

During the hour-and-a-half long operation a total of 28 vehicles were stopped. Many gave positive comments about the effects of being spoken to by the boys.

PC Moira Cocks said: "This is a first Speedwatch for the Scouts in this area. It proved very popular with the boys. There is nothing more humbling for a motorist than to be pulled over by a young person and asked why they are speeding and it really helps to get the message through to drivers to slow down. The scheme is all about educating drivers around the dangers of speeding and making the boys aware of how fast the traffic can travel in their area."

Speedwatch operations are part of Surrey Police and Surrey County Council's Drive SMART campaign to tackle the problem of anti-social driving. It aims to target a range of driving behaviours that negatively affect the lives of other road users and residents. These include tailgating, bad or inconsiderate parking, using a handheld mobile phone at the wheel, speeding, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt and generally thoughtless or reckless driving.