Speedwatch issue on BBC

Audlem's new Speedwatch team hit the airwaves this morning with a lengthy report on BBC Radio Stoke.

The gist of the story – which you can listen to by clicking under the photo – is that four members of the Speedwatch team have resigned because of comments carried on Audlem Online. The BBC story did not explain that the comments were the Chatbox contributions of some residents rather than editorial comment by the webteam.

It also appears that the 'facts' given to the BBC were incorrect. We are led to believe that just one member of the Speedwatch team has backed out – and this was because of an injury and definitely not comments on this website.

BBC Radio Stoke did carry comments from local residents as 'vox pops'. Three were broadcast, and we understand more were recorded. All the comments supported the Speedwatch team. Last night's Audlem Parish Council meeting also resulted in a member of the Parish Council joining the Speedwatch team.

The BBC story does, however, indicate the sensitivity of this issue. The webteam believes that some posts – on both sides of the argument – are now doing more harm than good. The comments are, in any case, becoming repetitive and we are therefore declining to post further Speedwatch Chatbox comments.

We suspect this may result in accusations of censorship. If so, we apologise for our stance but believe, on balance, a period of Speedwatch silence may be best for all.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.