MOTORISTS driving through Blakedown are being warned to watch their speed as two new safety cameras go into action in the village.

The new cameras went up on the A456 Birmingham Road on Monday opposite the Swan pub and less than a half a mile down the road near Blakedown C of E First School.

But the latest devices will not always be in use. They can only record speeding motorists once activated by a visit from operators.

Heather Mead, spokeswoman for the Safety Camera Partnership, said it was too early to say when the cameras would be manned, a process which involves linking them to a video recorder inside the operator's van as well as laying cables on the road to record vehicles speed.

However, she said the cameras would be sited "indefinitely" in an attempt to enforce the 30mph speed limit through the village.

Partnership manager Trevor McAvoy said: "The purpose of installing these cameras is to dissuade drivers from exceeding speed limits and to reduce the number of people killed or injured at a particular site, not to catch drivers speeding."

The partnership, which wants to reduce serious accidents in Worcestershire by 30 per cent by the end of next year, works independently of the police and covers its £3 million-a-year costs using speeding fines collected through the courts.

Motorists will be able to keep up to date about the new cameras via www.speedaware.org.uk