Speeding motorists are being targeted as police take action after a spate of deaths on the busy A127.

Drivers going over the limit can expect to get a nasty surprise through the letterbox this week after being caught by police using handheld speed guns.

Sgt Andy Beckett, of the Rayleigh road policing unit, said the catalogue of deaths had prompted officers to take extra measures along the stretch of road, which has long been a cause for concern.

The last life claimed along the road was that of 28-year-old father-of-two Darren Hornsey, whose Vauxhall Vectra came off the road near the Airborne Close junction in Eastwood, and was wrapped around a tree.

Sgt Beckett said: "We are going to be carrying out heavy enforcement over the next few weeks.

"We already do this on the A127 but now we have had three people killed on this road in the last six weeks.

"We have already caught a number of speeding motorists.

"We are now targeting more near the borough boundary and catching people as they are coming from the direction of Progress Road and the Fairway, before they get into the 40mph restricted zone."

On March 4, pregnant Leearna Briggs, 16, and her friend Shara Stone, 27, both of Beambridge, Pitsea, were killed when they were hit by a Land Rover near the Mayflower Retail Park, Basildon.

Just four days later, car fanatic James Webster, 22, of Wavertree Road, Benfleet, and 62-year-old Michael Harvey, of Ashanti Close, Shoebury, were killed in a head-on collision on the same spot as Mr Hornsey's crash.

Published Monday, April 21, 2003

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