A couple have come up with a unique way to try and deter speeding motorists by erecting a bird box that looks like a speed camera in their front garden.

Mike and Vicky Wrathmall, live in Billingham on a 30mph street and have had issues for years with speeding motorists.

The amazing effort has since been picked up on social media with the bird box going viral, several months after the story broke.

Back in December, Vicky said: "Sometimes you don't know what [the cars] are when they pass.

"It did work at first, we sat in the front room and you could tell because you can hear the sound of the traffic normally and we thought it had got quiet.

Read more: Why speed cameras are 'not in use' on A1 between Birtley and Team Valley

"People have been stopping and looking, there was a man laughing. A lady delivered some food and asked us one night if it was real.

"If you don't live here, you might think twice but the regular users know."

The 'speed camera' was built with scraps of wood left over from a fence.

Vicky said: "Mike has always thought about making one. It's not an original thing someone else had done it years ago and he just had it in his head."

The Northern Echo: The birdbox disguised as a speed camera. Picture: CHRIS BOOTHThe birdbox disguised as a speed camera. Picture: CHRIS BOOTH

Vicky and Mike have lived on the street for years, they said it is illegal to display a camera warning sign. But having the bogus speed camera is not illegal. Mike works for an accident management company in Stockton.

The council are able to remove if it was on their land but the 'camera' is erected in Mike and Vicky's front garden.

Stockton Council have not contacted the couple after they gained attention from the birdbox.

Back in 2019 Vicky's car was written off, when it was parked along the street it was hit by a passing car - the driver did not stop at the time, but after posting on Facebook the car was found.

There is also a primary school at the top of the street.

The birdbox has been up for a couple of months and people have stopped and taken pictures of it after noticing it.

Vicky said: "There's a guy up the road who has been trying to get speed bumps or traffic calming give way things for years and it's never happened. The council have said there's no funding for our part of Billingham, I don't know about the rest of it."

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