Three March town councillors have each spent £250 of their own money to fund speed reduction signs at Wimblington Road, March.

Councillors Rob Skoulding, Jan French and Mark Purser offered to pay for a 30mph sign when they were told there was county council funding to install the safety measure.

Cllr Purser said: “It’s downright dangerous. That speed limit should have been brought down years ago.

“Even in the 1960’s when I lived here, all the lorries and cars would bolt down the road.”

The new measure comes after several years of residents campaigning for the speed limit to be reduced from 40 to 30mph - and despite police branding it “unnecessary” in January 2015.

Cllr Jan French, who surveyed residents on both sides of the road, said she aimed to make the town’s roads as safe as possible for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.

“A 10mph reduction can mean the difference between life and death,” she said.

The road, from Neale-Wade Academy going out of March, has seen a number of casualties. Dominic Iliffe, 24, and James Kiely, 27, were killed along the road in December 2011.

Officers at Cambridgeshire County Council’s highways department asked for the B1101 speed scheme to get the green light in April 2015 after two public meetings and a campaign of two years showed overwhelming support for the idea.

In December 2015, the speed limit was set to be reduced. However this did not happen.

March Town Council clerk Clive Lemmon said in September 2014: “We have been told by Cambridgeshire County Council that planning has started and the speed limit change should be implemented after Christmas.

“Everyone tells us you are more likely to survive an accident at 30mph than 40mph. It is better to pre-empt than wait for two or three accidents to happen.”

Speaking this week about the speed reduction signs, he said it was “a response to public demand”.