Dismay as 'slow down' figures stolen from Kettering village where fatal crashes took place

Mindless thieves stole speeding awareness figures from a village near Kettering where two teenagers have died in crashes in recent years.

Two plastic green men each holding a flag, which urge drivers to slow down, were bought by Pytchley Parish Council and chained to posts with one in Isham Road.

But they've now been taken after someone cut the chains - with the parish council pleading for them to be returned.

Council chairman, Cllr Tony Everard, said: "It is really disappointing that someone felt the need to steal our little green men.

"They were just one of the things that the parish council has purchased in an attempt to get motorists to slow down coming through the village.

"We have limited traffic calming, a VAS (vehicle-activated sign) speed camera and the little green men and despite all that we still regularly record motorists coming through the village at over 50mph, and there have been two fatal crashes in the parish in the last few years.

"So if anyone knows of the whereabouts of our green men we would be pleased to have them returned."

Since 2018 two teenagers have lost their lives in devastating rural crashes in the Pytchley parish.

An 18-year-old, named locally as Charlie Owen, died in a collision just seven weeks ago on October 29.

He was a passenger in a Fiat Punto which crashed in Pytchley Lane, between the village and Kettering, and was declared dead at the scene.

In 2018 17-year-old Bishop Stopford School student Meredita Kelmelyte died after the car she was in crashed into a tree in Orlingbury Road, between Pytchley and Orlingbury.

The driver of the vehicle, who had only held a driving licence for 14 weeks, lost control as he followed a sports car. He was later sentenced to nine months in a young offenders' institute.