A CAMPAIGN has been launched to introduce a blanket 20mph speed limit throughout Dunbar's residential streets.

Morag Haddow - part of the Sustaining Dunbar group - is co-ordinating the '20's Plenty for Dunbar' initiative.

She wants to see all streets which currently have a 30mph limit reduced to 20 permanently, without traffic calming measures being introduced. At the moment, only roads around the town's schools have 20mph limits during school hours.

While the Dunbar campaign - the first of its type in East Lothian - is only getting started, a national drive has already seen areas of several towns and cities either sign up to or pilot 20mph limits, including south/central Edinburgh.

Portsmouth was the first city to introduce 20mph to 94 per cent of its roads in 2008. Any changes in Dunbar would have to be made through East Lothian Council.

Morag - who has three children at the town's schools - told the Courier: "My aim is to try to encourage people to walk and cycle, and make the streets a little bit safer.

"There are issues like Belhaven Road, where traffic is very fast and the pavements very narrow.

"I would like to get a local campaign off the ground. I would be interested to see if there is any support out there." A council spokeswoman said it would be a potentially lengthy procedure to introduce a new limit, adding: "This is an interesting idea. However, it would impact not only on residents of the town, but also visitors and businesses." Councillor Paul McLennan, council leader and ward member, said: "In principal, it's something I would be keen to support, but there's a lot to discuss. I think we would need to speak to the police as well." Ward councillor Norman Hampshire said: "I think we would have to do it area by area - we might have difficulty on distributor roads where traffic is moving slightly faster. But I understand why Morag is doing this and I would give every support for a consultation [with residents]." Dee Davison, joint-chair of Dunbar Primary School Parent Council, added: "Pupils and parents are very keen on cycling and walking, and anything to make that safer would be a very positive thing." But Kate Thomas, a Dunbar community councillor who lives on Belhaven Road, said: "My personal view is I think it's overkill. I think 30 is a perfectly acceptable speed limit - it's just educating people to stick to that."