Bradford on Avon’s Lorry Watch scheme faces drastic cutbacks as it becomes a victim of its own success, unless the town council can step in.

Lorry Watch currently runs all year thanks to about 40 volunteers who take shifts on the Town Bridge, tallying vehicles which infringe the town’s 18-tonne weight limit.

The details are passed onto Wiltshire Council’s Trading Standards department, which issues a first letter of warning.

If the vehicle is caught again, the firm is sent a second letter and prosecuted. But Trading Standards wants to cut Lorry Watch to two months a year because of the amount of work the scheme produces.

Mayor John Potter said: “Seventy five per cent of Trading Standards’ time is spent on the first letter. It takes up a lot of time and other towns are trying to do similar schemes so Trading Standards is under a lot of pressure. We are keen to see if we can relieve them of a lot of work using either our staff or volunteers and are talking to Wiltshire Council.”

For the town council to take over, it would need to have access to the DVLA register.

Mr Potter said: “Usually town councils don’t do that, but it doesn’t mean we can’t. We hope somehow we can deal with the first letter. It seems possible; it is a question of funding it.

“Lorry Watch has worked really well. Apparently it is the biggest Lorry Watch scheme in the country.

“When we first started, I remember saying the number of lorries will be cut by 25 per cent, but actually it has been cut by half. If we don’t keep it going with it, it will go up again.”

Lorry Watch was set up in October 2011, launched by Bradford on Avon Town Council under the leadership of Mr Potter.

Gordon Finch has been a member of the scheme since the beginning and volunteers for five hours a week.

He said: “I am concerned. I feel it would be beneficial to keep it on a regular basis throughout the year, to show a presence and deter the lorry drivers.

“The safety of the town is paramount to me and the volunteers feel the same way.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “Lorry Watch has proven to be very successful. We are very grateful to the vigilant volunteers for doing such a great job.

“Due to the large number of reports we agreed we would process reports for two months of the year. We are committed to the Bradford on Avon Lorry Watch scheme and will carefully manage our resource to make sure the scheme continues.”