A NEW campaign to kill speed in Westminster has been launched in a bid to cut the number of deaths on the borough s roads. Led by Queen s Park Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, the labour group aims to implement 20mph zones in residential areas throughout Westminst

A NEW campaign to kill speed in Westminster has been launched in a bid to cut the number of deaths on the borough's roads.

Led by Queen's Park Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, the labour group aims to implement 20mph zones in residential areas throughout Westminster.

Statistics from the Department of Transport show 1,604 people were injured in road accidents in Westminster in 2008, compared with 785 in Brent and 853 in Camden.

The figures also showed there were 20 fatalities in Westminster, compared with three in Hammersmith and Fulham and four in Kensington and Chelsea.

Cllr Dimoldenberg said: "We are rightly very concerned when our service people are killed in battle but we seem to accept without question people are going to get killed on the roads.

"It is sensible in preserving lives, in cutting out the misery it creates for families when people are injured and lives that are ruined.

"Road accidents are senseless and can be avoided."

John Zamit, the chairman of Southeast Bayswater Residents' Association (SEBRA), agreed that now was a good time to discuss the scheme.

He said: "There are some roads in our area where speeding is an issue and anything that can be done to reduce speeding must be welcomed.

"The 20mph zones are becoming more and more an interesting debate with other boroughs adopting it."

But Westminster Council said it was not planning to follow the likes of Islington Council in introducing a blanket reduced speed limit in residential areas.

Cabinet member for city management, Cllr Danny Chalkley said the council felt it was more effective to invest in road safety campaigns and education.

He added: "Reduced speed zones are normally self enforcing, which usually means having to install speed humps, which the council is now against for a number of reasons, and the debate on their usefulness has come full circle with some local authorities actively removing them.

"We will introduce measures to deal with known accident hotspots as appropriate, but 20mph limits and associated speed humps are not the only, and in our opinion, nor the most effective, ways of improving road safety."

The labour group will be putting forward a motion to create 20mph zones at the council meeting on January 27.