Tourist left fuming at 20mph fine on Welsh road expected to return to 30mph in coming weeks
A tourist has been left fuming after getting his first ever speeding fine on a 20mph Welsh road that could soon revert to 30mph. Martin Toms, a 74-year-old retired salesman, said he had been driving since the age of 17 without ever receiving a speeding ticket.
But this changed on a visit to North Wales in March on a road that has been 20mph since the default limit came in back in September 2023. Mr Toms had come from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire to stay in Chester with his wife Wendy.
They decided to have day trip to North Wales to look at the Duke of Lancaster ship, a former passenger vessel beached at Llannerch-y-Mor Wharf near Mostyn, Flintshire.
But he fell victim to the 20mph limit in Wales. He was caught by a fixed camera doing 31mph in his Mercedes Vito campervan on a 20mph stretch on the A548 at Greenfield.
Mr Toms said he saw the camera sign but as the area was not built up he thought he was in a 30mph zone. He received a speeding ticket a week later and has now paid £95 for a three hour speed awareness course.
The pensioner is particularly annoyed because the road is expected to return to 30mph in the coming weeks. This follows a Welsh Government review that is due to see local authorities revert hundreds of roads across Wales back to 30mph this spring and summer.
Flintshire council confirmed this location was on the list under review. Go Safe - who manage speed enforcement in Wales - said that while a review is ongoing they have not been informed of any decision at this stage to alter the limit. They added: "Until any change is confirmed and implemented by the Local Authority, drivers are required to comply with the posed 20mph speed limit."
Mr Toms said: "I have had a clean licence all my life and I am now 74 years old. I have never knowingly broken a speed limit or had an accident in all that time.
"I find this very annoying and even more so because the road could be back at 30mph in a few weeks, which in my view is the correct speed for that section."
He added: "We had been staying in Chester for a couple of nights and literally dipped our feet into Wales with a trip to see the ship. We went through Flint and saw it was 20mph there and people were doing that speed as it is a built up area. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
"We carried along the coast road and given that it was not built up and there are no schools here I assumed I was on a 30mph road. I saw the camera sign - although the camera itself it quite hidden - but I checked my speedometer and thought I was within the limit threshold. It was a complete surprise when a week later I received a speeding fine in the post.
"I thought maybe they would look at my clean licence, the fact we are not from the area, and that this road could soon revert to 30mph and show some discretion. There must be so many visitors caught out as well as local people.
"I would understand if I was doing 40mph or if I was caught in a built up area like Flint going at this speed but in all my experience of driving a road like this has always been 30mph.
"I've certainly nothing against the Welsh people but I've something against the people who brought in this limit. I know friends who've also been fined on 20mph roads in Wales and say they are concerned about going back.
"I've decided to bite the bullet and pay for the three hour course but I still don't consider that I did anything wrong."
Flintshire have announced dozens of roads in the county that are now under review and could return to 30mph.
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