NEW “watch your speed” signs have been posted on lampposts in a Bicester road where hundreds of motorists have been fined.

The move comes after the Oxford Mail revealed a huge rise in drivers being fined for speeding in Middleton Stoney Road during the past two years.

The road had a 50mph speed limit until a temporary limit of 30mph came into force in April 2010, as work started on the Kingsmere estate.

A sign was installed temporarily near the junction with Villiers Road and the 30mph speed was made permanent in November last year.

But because there is now no speed limit sign in Middleton Stoney Road, as you enter from Oxford Road, some drivers assumed it reverted back to 50mph.

Oxfordshire County Council said its signs are in line with national regulations stating they should be in place where the limit starts, in Oxford Road.

Following complaints about the lack of signs in Middleton Stoney Road, county councillor Les Sibley lobbied officers to install warnings to slow motorists down.

He said: “The council is not allowed to put 30mph signs up, otherwise we would.

“These are just a first-aid job – these are speed awareness signs.

They have been put up to alert motorists to watch their speed.” Mr Sibley said he was in talks with county council officers to get a more permanent “speed activator” sign for the road which flashes the speed limit at drivers if they are going too fast.

Earlier this month it emerged that fines in Middleton Stoney Road had risen by more than 1,700 per cent.

Police figures show 409 motorists were fined in Middleton Stoney Road, Bicester, between July 2012 and June 2013, compared with only 22 in the same period in 2010/11, and 239 in 2011/12.

One driver who was caught speeding, fined £60 and given three penalty points was mother-of-10 Karen Johnston, of Severn Close, Bicester.

She supports proposals for a speed activator sign, but said: “I don’t think the signs are much use because they are not big enough.

“What’s the point of watching your speed when they don’t show you the speed limit?”