A sleepy village on the River Medway has been named among the worst places for speeding in Kent.

That's according to the latest figures from police, which show 1,145 warning letters were sent in to motorists passing through Wateringbury, near Maidstone, between August 2018 and 2019.

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Offending drivers were handed the cautions following direct referrals by a local Community Speed Watch (CSW) group.

In comparison, the figure across the whole of Tonbridge - made up of four groups - was 1,487 and in West Malling, just 60.

Only Tunbridge Wells recorded a higher number of offenders with 1,530 split across 12 CSW groups. The third highest was Sevenoaks with 1,455 across eight.

In total there were 6,484 speed warning letters issued across 88 groups operating in Kent.

Volunteers known as "watchers" give up their time to monitor motorists breaking the law under the supervision of police.

Members of the national scheme track speeding motorists, equipped with little more than a smartphone, clipboard, and a tracker.

Any driver caught exceeding the legal limit is logged with those exceeding it by 50% or more automatically sent a letter.

The police may then choose to visit the offending motorist, fine them, or issue further enforcement action.

In Wateringbury - which has a population of just 2,130 - the number of warning letters sent was more than the combined total of Ashford, Canterbury and Dover.

This amounted to one warning for every two persons living in the village.

Wateringbury Speedwatch co-ordinator, David took up the post in 2016 following his retirement but says the group has been operating for more than 11 years now.

He explained how the volunteers run around four or five weekly sessions across six different sites – with the main hot spot identified as Red Hill.

"We get high incidence rates of speeding here, in both directions," he said.

"It really is unbelievable, the speeds that people drive at through the village, some that we get and many that we don't.

Another area prone to speed offenders which is regularly monitored is Lodge Close.

He said: "The problem with this location is that for people turning right, towards the village centre, visibility is not great; there is the corner of a building, only 100 yards or so away.

"If somebody is driving along the A26 at 60mph, at the same time a resident is trying to pull out of Lodge close, they wouldn't stand a chance."

Another reason why David believes the statistics to be so high for the area is the group has its own equipment.

This he says is a big help as it means they can go out "whenever they want", whereas other groups must collect the apparatus from the the police first.

The group has been praised by the police, but not all the feedback they receive is as positive.

In fact, David has compiled a list of the the most common types of abuse its members receives.

This includes often being hooted at, given the finger and "told to get a proper job".

He gives the example of one repeat offender in a transit van who attached airhorns to the roof and "blasted" the volunteers as he sped round the corner.

This sort of intimidation can be daunting for some of the members, he says, one of whom is elderly and suffers from a heart condition.

"It's as if they want to flout the law and say who will stop me?" he added.

It's not the only small village to have caught high volume of car whizzing through at top speeds.

Last year parish councillors and volunteers were left dumbstruck after it was revealed 133,000 drivers broke the speed limit when rushing through Staplehurst in just one week.

Of those, 162 drivers were caught travelling faster than 70mph in a speed limit that was either 30mph or 40mph.

In nearby Maidstone, which has the joint highest number of CSW groups alongside Tunbridge Wells with 12, volunteers dispatched 280 warning letters.

The area with the least amount of correspondence was Medway with just three - although it only has one registered group, St Mary's Island, Chatham.

Other parts of Kent which recorded lower levels of speeding offenders were Gravesend (124), Folkestone (102) and Dartford (94).

Swanscombe and Greenhithe Cllr Peter Harris helps organise the monthly speedwatch with residents in Ingress Park, Greenhithe.

Speaking earlier this year he explained the purpose of the patrol is not to “catch people out” but to educate them about the impact of their actions.

As one woman resident pointed out, the types of people caught are not always who people might think - with mums on the school run often named among the worst offenders.

“Some of the driving is just awful," she said.

"We had a lady with a child in the back who saw us and slammed the brakes on really hard.”

Earlier this year, the police disputed figures which suggested its detection rates were among the lowest in the country.

The force recorded 59,606 speeding offences in 2017-18. Of these 31,692 were dealt with by way of speed awareness courses.

• To find out more about the scheme visit communityspeedwatch.org