Action to raise awareness of wild ponies on Dartmoor's busy roads has resulted in electronic speed warnings being installed to slow drivers down.

And it is a newspaper campaign that's being thanked for raising awareness of the problem of drivers exceeding the 40mph limit.

The Western Morning News was thanked for stimulating the debate and for possibly saving animals' lives.

The Moor Care campaign was first launched almost three years ago when the paper printed a photo of a pony pawing at its dead foal, which has been knocked down by a motorist.

They are more risk in the winter when poor light and less traffic means drivers travel faster and the ponies can find it difficult to see the danger.

Dartmoor National Park Authority spokesman Mike Nendrick said: "The campaign has stimulated much debate and certainly contributed to bringing the issue high up on the agenda for both the national park authority and the highway authority."

Tom Anderson, from the Dartmoor Livestock Protection Society said: "I have driven that road with the WMN's poster on the back of my Land Rover which tells people to drive at 40mph but they just hoot and get angry or overtake.

"It's not tourists or residents who are the real problem. It's the commuters."

The speed monitoring devices will be at three locations on the B3212 and B3357. Information boards are also being installed by the parks authority to help the cause, as tourists' feeding of the ponies brings them closer to the road - and closer to danger.

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