Scarecrow diverts traffic

FORGET high-tech gatsos, the latest weapon in the fight against speeding motorists is a scarecrow called Nancy.

Villagers say the figure, dressed as a police officer holding a speed gun, has caused a big fall in the number of motorists speeding through a rural County Durham village.

Nancy, originally created for a village carnival, stands in the garden of Stella Anderson’s home near Barnard Castle in leafy Middleton-in-Teesdale.