THE phrase "community policing" is about to take on a whole new meaning.

In a ground-breaking move, squads of civilians are to be enlisted to combat speeding drivers.

The initiative is to be trialled in the village of Culbokie, near Inverness, and will involve residents working in teams to note down and pass on the details of drivers who trigger speed indicator signs. Volunteers will monitor cars that trigger the 30mph sign at the south west end of the village, noting down registration numbers, speed, date and time of the vehicle clocked at over the limit.

The battle to make drink driving socially unacceptable was hard fought, especially in rural areas, but it has thankfully been won. Now attention is rightly being turned to the scourge of speeding, which is responsible for all too heavy a toll on our roads.

With police resources increasingly stretched, it makes sense to make careful use of concerned members of the public, so long as it does not stray into the territory of vigilantism. This does not, insists a senior officer; it is "community empowerment".

Sometimes the long arm of the law requires a helping hand. This is a case in point.