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Speeding drivers caught at speeds of up to 140 mph on M6 Toll

Britain's worst speeding offenders have been caught going as fast as 146mph.

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Two instances of this excessive speed - the worst recorded by speed cameras in 2014 - occurred on the M25.

There was a case of 145mph being reached on the M6 Toll road in the West Midlands, a speed of 141mph was captured on the A1 northbound at Great Ponton in Lincolnshire and 140mph was filmed on the A5 near Crick in Northamptonshire.

Meanwhile, another offender was caught travelling anti-clockwise at junction 5 near Westerham in Kent, while the other was captured on film going clockwise at Swanley in Kent.

Compiled by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) following a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request, the figures for England and Wales in 2014 also showed three other incidents in which drivers were recorded travelling at 140mph or more.

One of the worst examples of speeding was on the 30mph-limit London Road in East Grinstead in West Sussex where one driver was recorded doing 128mph.

Of the 36 England and Wales police forces who responded to the FOI request, all but six recorded top speeds of more than 110mph in 2014.

London's worst speeder was recorded at 123mph on a 30mph road by the Metropolitan Police.

The highest figure recorded in a 50mph zone was 120mph, by Nottinghamshire Police on the A631 Beckingham road.

The worst speed caught on a 40mph road was 115mph on the A10 Great Cambridge Road in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.

The IAM believes that an improvement in driving skills and attitude is the key to reducing the numbers of people killed and injured on UK roads, advocating advanced driving and riding tuition to help achieve this.

IAM chief executive office Sarah Sillars said: "It is disheartening to say the least that some road users are showing such disregard for the safety of all other road users.

"At speeds of 140mph an individual is travelling at nearly two-and-a-half miles a minute. At that speed it is simply impossible to react to anything that might happen in front of you."

She went on: "All these individuals are playing with their own lives and others. They are all accidents waiting to happen and it requires a major shift in the attitudes of these people to think about safety."

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