A campaign calling for a 20mph speed limit on streets across Thanet is splitting opinion.

County councillors Barry Lewis and Karen Constantine (both Lab) say they hope restrictions in Ramsgate and Margate will reduce accidents and injuries to pedestrians and save lives.

But while their proposals have been backed by residents, it is also drawing criticism from opponents for being an attack on drivers and increasing pollution.

Matt Shoul, chair of the Athelstan Road Tenants and Residents Association (ARTRA), says the scheme will be vital towards raising awareness about speed and protect children in the Cliftonville street.

He says the group is working on an art project involving youngsters living in the street as part of a 'Don't Kill Us, Kill Your Speed' campaign.

Cllr Lewis, who represents Margate, says the campaign is about "saving lives, not minutes", conceding journey times could be increased by "a minute or two".

Data available from Kent County Council (KCC) shows there have been four collisions between cars and children since March 2014 in the street.

The figures also reveal more than 300 incidents involving child casualties in total in the last five years across Thanet, of which three were fatal.

The crash statistics show 14 people have died on Thanet's roads since 2014, with a total of nearly 2,000 people injured - an average of 400 each year.

But the numbers are being called into question by a driver's group which describe the 20mph zones as "a war on the driver".

Terry Hudson, from the Kent branch of the Alliance of British Drivers, says the figures do not highlight the speed limit where crashes take place, the type of road and the time of day.

He said: "It does not show, completely reckless drivers, drugged drivers, stolen vehicles and drunk driving which all boost accident figures.

"Normal safe drivers are lumped together in these statistics. More detailed causes of these are easily available to councillors via KCC. So have the two councillors even looked?"

"For these two councillors to say that it might only add a few minutes to our journey time is nonsense, have they never driven behind a 20mph farm tractor.

"Once all councils impose this limit, all those ‘few minutes’ lost, will add up as you proceed on your journey.

"It started to be re-invented a couple of decades ago, at the same time as the ‘war-on-the-driver’ was initiated and now features heavily in government and council documents, as they try to make driving more unpleasant, more costly and with longer journey times, which they hope will force us into “active travel” meaning walking and cycling.

"Any road can have many ‘safe’ speeds depending on time of day and prevailing conditions and 20mph may be appropriate at certain times.

"But do we want to drive at this speed at 3.00 am in the morning, when 99% of residents are asleep in their beds?"

Mike Whiting, KCC's cabinet member for transport, announced in November the authority will be preparing a report and taking a "case by case approach" for 20mph zones in the county.