BRUCEWOOD Parade was the site most recently chosen to monitor traffic speeds in the valley.

The results are quite frightening, particularly when you consider that this area, near the shops, is where children tend to frequent or maybe are getting off school buses, perhaps obscured by many parked cars.

In a period of 54 days, there were 75,749 vehicle movements or about 1,402 per day. These were vehicles leaving the valley – the equipment can only record one direction in a single period of observation.

More than 13,000 were travelling at speeds from 35 mph up to 70, a speed that, if recorded by police, would certainly ensure the drivers would be booked, and would, at best, cause severe injury to any pedestrian in a collision.

Nearly 100 drivers were exceeding 50 mph. The speed limit for that section is 30 miles per hour.

These levels of excesses should shame us all – not all the offenders were visiting delivery vehicles, after all. The other crazy fact is that such speeds gain the drivers only a few milliseconds in their dash to the delay at the junction.

Come on folks, such hare-brained and criminal behaviour needs to be curbed immediately. That it’s pointless must surely be a no-brainer (and it may end up being just so for some unfortunate victim).

SEEMINGLY a weekly occurrence is the appearance of a new way of defrauding members of the public of their hard-earned cash.

Relying on email scams is wearing a bit thin. So too is the official sounding phone call that relies on people responding to authority.

Thames Valley Police have got wind of a new technique that appeals to the victim's sympathy. Although not known to have happened in our area yet, TVP seems convinced that it will soon be employed by visiting scoundrels or even local ones who will have learnt the ploy.

The first incident was reported to Surrey Police in November. The victim, a 64-year-old man was flagged down by the suspects, stating they needed cash for fuel as their car had run out of petrol. He gave them £20 cash, in exchange for three gold rings. The suspects promised to repay the money and gave the victim a business card.

Of course, the rings were in fact worthless and the business card a fake.

The two suspects are described as smartly dressed, dark skinned, possibly of Arabic origin, large build around 40 to 50 years old. The car close by ‘which had run out of petrol’ was, in this case, a black Mercedes saloon. Further similar incidents have occurred.

If anything like this happens to you, please get the car index number, stall them and phone the police from your mobile instantly on 999. Alternatively, if you see anyone hanging around a parked car suspiciously, and you think it may be such an incident waiting to happen, then ring the police on the 101 number.

WHATEVER happened to the opening of the Da Luca Italian restaurant? Well, although it was within just a few days of opening, a number of problems happened at the last minute that made the plan temporarily impossible.

In one case it was a simple connection of the cooker to the gas that had been supplied in the wrong fitting.

However, I am told that all the problems have now been overcome. If it hasn’t opened by the time you read this, it should do so very soon.

QUALITY of treatment of patients is obviously a very hot topic nationally at the moment. The Care Quality Commission publish their intelligent monitoring of GP surgeries across the county using readily available national datasets for NHS GP practices relating to important areas of care.

They look at 38 indicators to help them decide when, where and what to inspect. You can access this at http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/our-intelligent-monitoring-gp-practices The data they look at includes information from: Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), GP Patient Survey (GPPS), electronic Prescribing Analysis and Costs (ePACT), Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Information Centre Indicator Portal, NHS Comparators – all sound off-puttingly academic. The whole thing boils down to an index rating and a report on your local surgery.

You can search for your GP surgery by postcode on the interactive map. Each receives a rating (1-6, six being the highest rating and one the lowest) and you can access the report behind the rating. A surgery may show up as white if it has yet to be rated.

SNIFFLES time is here. You can help avoid being a target.

By now most of you will have had the flu jab but you may still get struck down by a cold, runny or blocked nose, sore throat, sneezing, cough, headache, even mild fever.

It’s caught either by inhaling infected droplets coughed or sneezed into the air, or by touching an area live with infection. Avoid children already suffering.

To help to stay free of colds, medical advice says wash hands regularly; avoid unnecessary travel and crowded places, where possible; rest in the early stages will strengthen your immune system; drink plenty of fluids including hot water with lemon, honey and ginger; essential oils of eucalyptus and tea tree can be added to hot water or an oil burner or carrier oil, for massage into the chest or your bath.

Now, if that saves just one reader the misery over Christmas, I will consider it to have been worth it.