Tories lose bid to reverse 20mph limit in Wales:

The unpopular 20mph speed limit in built-up areas in Wales will remain after a bid to defeat it was rejected in the Welsh Parliament.

Welsh Conservatives put ­forward a motion to the assembly yesterday to overturn the law which set the default speed limit at 20mph.

But Plaid Cymru and Labour members overwhelmingly voted to reject the proposal, arguing the policy was helping improve road safety.

Wales became the first ­country in the UK to reduce the default speed limit from 30mph to 20mph last year.

The move has been controversial, with a petition against the law having been signed by nearly 470,000 people — the largest in Senedd history.

Even Wales Transport Secretary Ken Skates confessed the policy was so disliked in the country his own family had signed the opposing petition. 

The Daily Mail reported last month that the 20mph limit had even thrown a top cycling race into turmoil – because it meant support cars could not legally keep pace with riders.

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The Welsh Government said the 20mph limit will save the NHS in Wales £92 million a year.

This comes after Welsh Labour previously decided to scrap the blanket 20mph limit last July.

Celebrity lawyer Nick 'Mr Loophole' Freeman - famous for helping celebrities beat traffic cases - said in July the celebrated decision would hopefully have a knock-on effect on the rest of the UK. 

Welcoming the news, he said: 'Ever since its inception I've called for Wales to scrap [the] 20mph speed limit... Pleased to hear this now happened.

'Shame [this] doesn't create a legally binding precedent for [the] rest of [the] country. But hopefully good sense will prevail.'

Drivers across the UK previously shared their misery after the 20mph speed limits were imposed by their local councils - with drivers forced to crawl from A to B. 

Natasha Asghar, the Welsh Conservative shadow transport minister, also welcomed the news when it was announced - but said the changes must be brought in quickly.

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She said: 'While I appreciate that Labour and the Cabinet Secretary appear to be listening to the public on 20mph, it is unclear who will be seeing these changes and how quickly they will be implemented.'

'Councils, who are already stretched due to Labour's budget cuts, will be left to sort out the mess the government has made of their 20mph policy and I cannot see there being many significant changes as a result.

'£5 million is being given to councils in Wales, who have to bid for funding and there does not seem to be a timeline in place, which will undoubtedly lead to sheer frustration for drivers from all corners of Wales.'

Cllr Andrew Morgan, leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, said: 'These are not easy decisions for councils and safety remains our priority. There will need to be a high level of confidence that, if and where the limit is raised back to 30mph, it will not result in the very risks the policy was designed to mitigate.'

The transport minister admitted 'errors have been made' with the scheme, which was previously set to be reverted in September this year with the introduction of new guidance across the country.

The policy was introduced in September last year, with the promise that lower speed limits would lead to fewer collisions and people injured.

The Welsh Government provided funding to Wales' 22 councils for new signs required to alert drivers of the speed limit.

It has seen fierce opposition from the Conservatives in the Senedd, who have branded it a 'waste of time and resources'.