The signs - which use local dialect phrases to urge drivers to slow down - were put up several years ago.

However, a row has broken out since Raymond Bayfield, the villager who funded them, was convicted of causing the death by careless driving of his partner, Carole Jermy.

Raymond Bayfield, who admitted causing death by careless driving (Image: Web)

Carole Jermy with her some of her family (Image: Supplied)

He was driving the 67-year-old and her dog, Dudley, to a dog grooming parlour when he took a corner too fast and his car ended up in the ditch.

Her family claim the signs are insensitive and say they are a constant reminder of her death.

Others in the village support the family and say the signs should come down.

However, others - including the parish council - insist that they should remain.

There are at least five signs in total, dotted around Old Buckenham's green, which has been plagued by speeding drivers.

Mr Bayfield, 83, a retired company director, is understood to be a keen advocate of the Norfolk dialect, and played a pivotal role in funding and maintaining the signs. 

The signs encourage drivers to slow down in traditional Norfolk dialect (Image: Another of the signs)

Another of the signs pay tribute to the village's ducks (Image: Henry Durand)

He has also made several other donations to village amenities over the years, including towards clearing a local pond and two new bins. 

The signs urge drivers to “watch yar speed” and “slew yer down”. Another warns “cor blast yew argon tew fast” while another encourages drivers to slow down “for duck’s sake”.

Kelly Radford, 47, one of Ms Jermy's two daughters who both live in the area, said: “In light of everything that’s happened, to have signs that were paid for by someone who killed a person by not slowing down or driving carefully just feels wrong."

She said she had to drive past the signs every time she goes to visit her mother’s grave at Old Buckenham’s St Nicholas Church, while her sister sees them as she drops off her children at the village school.

Ms Radford contacted the parish council to request they be removed.

In her letter, she wrote: "I am appreciative of the fact that these were meant as some light-hearted humour. I know that many people have found these amusing over the years.

Carole Jermy, who suffered fatal injuries in the 2023 crash (Image: Web)

"However, I am asking you to discuss having these signs taken down in light of what has happened."

The council discussed the subject at a meeting which it barred the public from attending, claiming this would allow for "private and respectful discussion".

However, following discussions it decided the signs should stay.

A spokesman said the council had consulted with the community speed watch group and that the signs “are considered an effective tool in making drivers aware of their speed”.

The spokesman added: "While the council fully acknowledges and sympathises with the deeply sensitive circumstances regarding the funding of the signs, they are viewed as a necessary public utility.

Some of the signs are muddied (Image: Henry Durand)

A community speed watch was also seen in the village (Image: Henry Durand)

“The council must balance individual concerns with the broader safety requirements of the community."

However, Ms Radford remains unhappy.

“None of it makes any sense," she said. "I know they've tried to justify it, but for me, I just think if it was a member of their family that this happened to, I'm fairly confident those signs would probably be down in an instant.”

She is supported by many in the village, some of whom claim the signs may actually be more of a distraction than a safety measure.

John Walters, 68, who lives nearby and has worked in road regulations for more than 20 years, said unfamiliar wording on signs can create risk. 

John Walters and Jan Smith (Image: Henry Durand)

“We go out of our way to make sure drivers don’t have to linger interpreting a sign,” he said. 

“When you’ve got to start reading signs, that’s the problem. You’re better off if signs are so familiar to you that you just clock it and that’s it.”

Susan Hunt, 82, said the signs could be perceived as “rude” and a “distraction”.

“They’re another sign to distract drivers, they’re not something you automatically know what it says.”

However others in the village support the signs.

 Leslie Passfield, 64, who moved to Old Buckenham from Essex four years ago, said they “give you a feel of the local community”.

Kevin and Leslie Passfield (Image: Henry Durand)

Old Buckenham has a population or around 1,200 (Image: Henry Durand)

“If they’re going to say it distracts drivers, they should take down all the other little things like signs for bingo nights and other events going on in the village.”

Another woman, who did not want to be named, said: “You shouldn’t be driving that fast if you can't read it.”

Mr Bayfield,  who used to be director of a string of firms involved in the freight transport and truck sales or hire sector, was sentenced at Norwich Magistrates' Court last month, after pleading guilty to causing Ms Jermy's death by careless driving in the crash on September 2023.

He was handed a suspended eight-month prison sentence and banned from driving for three years.

The ditch in Besthorpe (Image: Newsquest)

The crash happened in Besthorpe, around three miles from from Old Buckenham, when he and Ms Jermy – with whom he had had an on/off relationship for 17 years - were less than a mile from a dog grooming parlour with her pet in the back.

The court heard how Mr Bayfield had been approaching a blind bend on Silver Street in a hired Ford Fiesta.

Although he was driving at 47mph, which was within the speed limit at the spot, magistrates were told it was too fast for the bend.

His car left the road and came to rest in a ditch.

Ms Jermy, a school cleaner, died of her injuries the following day. Her dog survived.

In court, Mr Bayfield's barrister, Tim Pole, apologised on his behalf for the pain and sorrow he had caused.

Mr Bayfield outside Norwich Magistrates Court in January (Image: Newsquest)

"This tragedy is the last thing to cross his mind at night and the first thing to enter his mind in the morning," Mr Pole said. "That will be there for the rest of his days."

The court also heard victim impact statements from Ms Jermy's grandchildren.

One granddaughter said: "Nanny was enjoying retirement and I was enjoying spending more time with her.

"I don't think the word heartbroken is strong enough to say the way I feel. I miss hearing Nanna and mummy laughing on the phone."

Her grandson told the court: "Whenever I think of my nanny, I always want to cry and hug her. I always think about her from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep."

Another granddaughter added: "The heart-breaking grief I have experienced in the last few years is indescribable."

Mr Bayfield has been approached for comment about the signs.

© Eastern Daily Press