AN electronic speed sign is to be installed in Foxcombe Road near Hinksey Hill by the end of October after a long campaign by residents.

The £3,500 sign will be activated by speeding drivers.

The sign will tell them to “slow down” and show the 40mph limit.

It will be funded with £1,500 council cash arranged by Bob Johnston, the Oxfordshire county councillor for Kennington & Radley.

South Hinksey Parish Council – which has long wanted the sign on the left heading towards Boars Hill – will put in the rest.

It is hoped the sign will stop the minor collisions that have seen cars damage residents’ fences.

It comes after the 60mph limit was cut to 40mph in August 2011 following parish council concerns.

Liberal Democrat Mr Johnston has taken £1,500 from a £10,000 fund given to all county councillors to spend in their community.

He said: “I thought it was time to see if I could give the parish council a leg up because they were very downcast about it.

“These things do work to a certain extent.

“The police turn up once in a blue moon, catch a few but that isn’t enough as a real deterrent.

“This is a constant reminder. In other places, they have been extremely successful.”

Other good causes to benefit from his fund this year include £1,000 for curtains at Kennington Village Hall and another £1,000 to renovate the floor at Radley Village Hall.

The news on the road sign was welcomed by Elizabeth LeFevre, who has led calls for the sign at the parish council.

She said: “It is so desperately needed up here.

“Although we have a 40mph limit, a lot of the cars do not keep to it.

“We have had the police do speed checks and issue penalty notices but they cannot do that all the time.

“We are hoping the sign will be a small reminder before traffic hits the start of the residential area of Hinksey Hill.”

A March 2012 police speed check gave out 11 tickets for 50mph speeding, with 14 warnings for 46mph to 49mph, she said.

The Hinksey Hill resident said: “I think people along here will be absolutely delighted.

“Most properties have had a car that has ended up in their front fence.” She said one homeowner has had 32 such collisions, although this clashed with the number of reports actually logged with the county council.

The sign will be installed by the county council, the highways authority for Oxfordshire.

Spokesman Marcus Mabberley said: “It’s expected that the sign will be operational by the end of next month.

“There have been no reported accidents in the vicinity of where the new sign will be in the past two years.”