FOR many 20 is plenty.

But not for Southampton transport chiefs who have ruled out slashing road speeds to 20mph across the city.

They say a pilot scheme introduced in one city community had little impact on drivers’ speeds and have now decided against rolling out speed restrictions across the city.

The pilot study in Maybush was introduced at a cost of £30,000, after 80 per cent of the 575 residents who responded to consultation called for a lower speed limit.

But while council officers say “minor” speed reductions were noticed on some routes, mainly no-through roads, on other roads such as Lower Brownhill Road and Green Lane there was “very little change observed”.

They said the timeframe of the pilot meant they were unable to determine whether it had reduced the number of accidents in the area.

Another survey of residents found that only 17 per cent of those polled thought the pilot had made a positive difference, against 67 per cent who said there was no difference.

But 67 per cent said they would support 20mph limit areas elsewhere in the city.

A 20mph area differs from a 20mph zone as it does not use physical traffic calming measures, and council officers have said that “as the benefits shown are marginal and the perception by residents is that little has changed, it is recommended that similar schemes are not implemented in other areas of the city at this time unless supported by traffic calming measures or similar”.

As well as ruling out a city-wide 20mph limit for residential streets, as called for by the Conservative opposition, no funds have been allocated for specific areas over the next financial year.

However the Maybush speed limit will remain the same and officers have recommended that opportunities for funding for the introduction of 20mph areas could be secured from the Government.

Conservative opposition deputy leader Jeremy Moulton said: “Why was Maybush picked in the first place, when there are areas elsewhere screaming out for it, like in my ward in Freemantle or Bitterne or Shirley?

“We have done a number of surveys and 80 per cent of people said they wanted it.

“Also, even if speed has been reduced slightly, that could save lives and it’s good for the environment.

“It appears that after three years of Labour saying they wanted 20mph limits, it’s been a waste of time.”

A council spokesman said: “While there may some benefits, they are not considered significant enough to justify the cost of preparing and implementing new area wide 20mph proposals within the city at this time.

“It is the council’s view that further 20mph zones are either supported by traffic calming measures – funded via developer contributions – or be located where the road layout would deter higher speeds.”