A much-trailed scheme to give out speed guns to community volunteers across Bolton could finally be brought in this summer.

The community speed watch initiative was approved nearly a year ago as a way of dealing with long running complaints about dangerous driving and speeding in the borough but since then has taken time to get off the ground.

The plan had initially met reluctance from Greater Manchester Police, as Bolton Council was told last year, but town hall chiefs now hope the first volunteers will be ready and on duty in a matter of months.

Cabinet member for stronger communities Cllr Mudasir Dean said: “Unfortunately there hasn’t been as much progress as we’d like but we are pushing this issue at every meeting we have with the police and we’re hoping that over the summer this initiative will start.”

He added: “Even a warning will help put people off and encourage them to drive more carefully.”

Cllr Dean explained that plans were in place to bring in the necessary speed guns, to distribute them to community members and to train them up.

He said: “We’re just waiting on the green light from the police.”

This comes with Bolton having been hit by several high-profile cases of dangerous driving in recent years, one of the most devastating of which saw an elderly woman’s house on White Horse Grove, Westhoughton smashed into by a BMW in November last year.

The Bolton News:

One of the worst cases of dangerous driving saw a BMW crash into an elderly woman's house

Earlier this month, a police crackdown at Moses Gate Country Park recorded a total of 56 speeding offences in a single day over April 11.

Police vehicle checks in popular park find 60 offences committed in a single day

Across Greater Manchester as a whole, 71 people died because of road traffic collisions in 2021.

The community speed watch plan was first proposed by Great Lever Councillor Madeline Murray at a full meeting of Bolton Council last year.

A pilot scheme last year on Ainsworth Lane involved around 10 volunteers and did not result in any fines but acted as a deterrent, according to the council.

As well as the ruling Conservative group, Bolton’s Labour group has also said it intends to implement the scheme.

Cllr Nick Peel said that this would be key to the party's election offer next week.