DRIVERS using a busy Newport dual carriageway have been hit by a double whammy - speed traps but only one speed limit sign.

Signs indicating the 30mph speed limit on Cardiff Road are few and far between, because once-familiar 30mph 'reminder' signs - which let people know what speeds they should observe - have been outlawed.

The 30mph reminder signs were banned by the government after motorists' lawyers challenged speeding tickets by arguing there were no reminder signs on the road in question.

On Cardiff Road, travelling into town from the M4, there is a large 30mph sign before the Ebbw Bridge roundabout but no further speed sign.

The National Assembly has rejected the solution adopted by some English councils - yellow 'kill your speed' signs, incorporating a '30' symbol - because they are "advertising signs".

But a spokesman said speed issues would be come under the spotlight in a road safety consultation which is launched next week.

He added: "We don't allow repeater signs because there would have to be so many of them - in the towns and countryside. They would be very expensive and unsightly."

Meanwhile, the Argus has received complaints from some drivers about a police speed trap concealed in the entrance of Belle Vue park.

The unmarked Gwent police van contains radar and camera equipment to check the speed of vehicles approaching the town centre from the M4.

At a recent meeting of Gwent Police Authority, Gwent's Chief Constable Keith Turner said proposed new speed cameras in the force area would be conspicuous rather than hidden.

He said: "It's not about trapping motorists, it's about reducing accidents."

The RAC Foundation was set up as an independent research and campaigning body concerned with motoring issues.

Spokesman Matthew King said: "There's a role for speed cameras but they should be positioned at accident black-spots.

"The real problem is where you get cameras in places where motorists are easy targets but there's no special risk of accidents."

A police spokeswoman said Mr Turner had been referring to a proposed new wave of speed cameras, which would not replace mobile cameras or other forms of speed trap.

And Chief Inspector Peter Fouweather, of Gwent police traffic department, told the Argus: "Gwent police use mobile radar speed detection devices linked to cameras of a type approved by the Home Office."

* In the picture: A police speed camera is hidden in the back of this van off Cardiff Road, Newport.