Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Kevin Hurley defended his Conservative election rival after he was caught speeding, saying ‘none of us are perfect’.

Conservative councillor and PCC candidate David Munro was caught going 38 miles per hour in the 30 miles per hour zone in Reigate Hill on January 4, for which he had to complete four hours of speed awareness training and pay £100.

Cllr Munro, who has been a councillor for Farnham South since 1997, said he ‘absolutely regretted’ speeding but said he would not ‘beat himself up over it’.

He said: “There are more serious offences – I simply took my eyes off the road.

“I would never condone speeding but it’s easily done – but I am grateful it didn’t result in an accident.

“I can’t prevent people thinking this looks bad for a prospective PCC but I’ve always been open and honest about it and I hope people appreciate that.”

Despite facing Cllr Munro in May’s election, Mr Hurley shrugged it off as a ‘non-issue’, saying ‘we’ve all most likely done it before’.

Mr Hurley said: “I would say that he who is without sin should cast the first stone – none of us are perfect, are we?

“You can’t tell me you definitely won’t go over the speed limit on your way home from work – sometimes people just lose concentration.

“It would have been different if he was doing 70 miles per hour but I suppose this serves as a timely reminder for us all to pay a bit more attention."

Mr Hurley also said he had not heard about Cllr Munro’s speeding earlier because he does not pay attention to other candidates, such is his confidence in a victory on May 5.

Mr Hurley is one of the only PCCs to have increased the number of officers in his force in the face of widespread cuts.

However, Mr Hurley has been criticised recently for reports which said Surrey Police’s care of vulnerable people – especially abused children – was inadequate.

This prompted Mr Hurley to say he would have sacked former chief constable Lynne Owens in response, had she not been appointed National Crime Agency head.

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