Drivers on the A1 between Buckden and Southoe will soon have to stick to a new 60mph limit or risk a fine.

Work by the Highways Agency (HA) to install average speed cameras – six covering the north and six on the southbound carriageway – started on Monday.

The cameras are due to become active from 7am on Sunday, March 15.

They will be spread over a 2.1-mile stretch, from just south of the Stirtloe turn to 300m south of Lees Lane, Southoe.

The £1.02million scheme, confirmed by the HA last Thursday, is being paid for out of Government funding of £317m for improving safety and tackling congestion to promote development and economic growth. Work will be carried out overnight, from 7pm to 7am, Monday to Friday, for 20 nights, weather permitting, and lanes will be closed.

As reported in last week’s Hunts Post, A1 Safety Advisory Group chairman Fiona Shirley gave the cameras a cautious welcome, saying keeping the speed down was good for Southoe and Diddington, but the effect on Buckden remained to be seen.

But Pat King, president of Buckden Women’s Institute, said the measures did not go far enough.

WI members have been ­campaigning to slow traffic on the approach to the A1 Buckden ­roundabout, which is already covered by a 50mph limit. Mrs King said: “They don’t stick to the limit and they don’t slow down at the roundabout.

“I was there this morning and it was horrendous. The traffic was continuous.”

She said the cameras should also have gone in between the Brampton and Buckden junctions.

Steve Davy, the HA’s project manager for the scheme, said the measures were being introduced to reduce the number of accidents.

He said that the stretch of A1 immediately north of Buckden had not been part of the scheme because its accident record had not warranted its inclusion.