Villagers who fought for speed restrictions to save lives say volunteers who give up their time to monitor speeding have been shouted and sworn at by drivers.

Since June the Community Speed Watch group has recorded 399 vehicles going above the 20mph limit on the Newington High Street stretch of the A2.

Cllr Richard Palmer, who represents the village on Swale council and is a speed watch volunteer, says the limit is there “to keep people of the village safe”.

One accident saw a suspected drunk driver arrested after ploughing into a building in the High Street near the Bull Inn.

Some 9% of the 4,405 vehicles that passed through the zone during the monitored sessions between June and now were travelling above 25mph, the limit where offenders are officially recorded as speeding.

Since the group was set up on March 16, 801 vehicles have been caught going too fast, and all four 20mph zone signs have been vandalised with black paint.

Cllr Palmer called the vandalism “disappointing”.

The Newington resident said the limits were in place to “keep villagers safe”.

He said: “The zone was introduced after villagers raised their concerns about speeding in the area.

“I understand drivers can lose concentration and go above the limit by a few mph but it's important to reduce accidents.

“It's there to reduce accidents and make it safer for pedestrians – a child hit by a car at 20mph is 95% likely to survive; at 30mph it's only a 50% chance.”

Cllr Palmer added that the zone is supported by most residents and is supposed to also improve air quality and noise pollution.

Derek Fairlie, one of the speed watch coordinators, said most people supported the programme but some “verbally abuse” the volunteers.

The 66-year-old London Road resident wants to see more 20mph signs in the area as he believes people “forget or don’t know” what the limit is.

He said: “Most people stick their thumbs up at you as they go past but people do shout and swear at us.

“We are not asking drivers much to stick to the speed limit – it's only a short stretch of the road.”

Umar Abanifi, who lives in Wickham Close just off the A2 and within the 20mph zone, wants to see electronic signs which display real-time speeds.

The 54-year-old said: “I think speed cameras would be a bad idea as they would only be vandalised and people will only slow down for the short distance.

“Even when the signs are clear people beep, overtake and shout abuse at me when I am driving at the speed limit.

“People need to abide by the speed as the High Street is very narrow and there are lots of junctions where people need to get out.”

The Newington resident, who has lived in the village since 2005, says he would like to see lorries also banned from that stretch of road as he believes the High Street is too narrow.