Knitted speed camera George targets speeding in Fillongley
A Warwickshire knitting group has built a life-sized knitted speed camera called George to slow drivers in Fillongley, where a speed gun test found most drove around 30mph but some were faster.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A village knitting group in Fillongley, Warwickshire, near Coventry, has created a life-sized knitted speed camera and placed it at the roadside to persuade drivers to slow down. The figure, named George, is mounted on a repurposed mannequin and wears a yellow hi-vis jacket. From a distance, the group hopes, he looks enough like a real speed camera or traffic officer to make drivers ease off.
George is the latest member of the Fillongley Speedwatch team. He was made by the Fillongley Knit and Natter group and took about 150 hours of work. The project is one of several speed calming creations the group has made in response to 11 collisions in the village in four years. One member said the group wanted to send a message, especially after witnessing a serious accident outside a pub last year. The village has been described as one of Warwickshire's worst accident black spots for speeding drivers, and locals have grown frustrated at delays in council efforts to address the problem.
To test whether the knitted officer has any effect, a real speed gun was placed under George's arm for an afternoon. Most drivers entering the village were doing around 30mph, but some were considerably faster. Most drivers did appear to brake when they saw George, though there was no way to know whether they would have braked anyway.
The group has also had a setback. There were originally two knitted officers. The second, named Charlie, has gone missing. It may have been taken by a driver who was taken in by the display. Despite that, the volunteers say the knitted speed cameras are catching attention and making the point about speeding.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| A knitted speed camera created by the Fillongley Knit and Natter group took 150 hours to make and was among several speed-calming creations introduced after 11 collisions in the village in four years. | |
| A second knitted police officer named Charlie was reported missing. | |
| A speed check in Fillongley found most incoming drivers at about 30mph, with some travelling considerably faster. | |
| The village recorded 11 collisions over four years. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
ITV1 treated the item as a quirky local road safety story with a practical test at its centre. Its correspondent used a real speed gun to see whether George slowed traffic, and the report balanced warm reactions with the caveat that some drivers still sped and that braking could not be attributed to the knitted officer. It also highlighted local frustration over collisions and the unexplained disappearance of a second knitted officer.
- “From a distance in his yellow hi-vis he may just about fool you into thinking it's a real speed trap.”
- “It is slowing people down and that's just what we want.”
- “But there were originally two knitted officers the second, called Charlie has gone missing”
Broadcast Timeline
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