Future unclear for 305 redundant speed cameras left on West Midlands streets

Councillors are still to decide whether to spend £489,000 to upgrade some of the region's 305 cameras to digital or fork out £178,000 to remove them from the side of the road.

A decision on funding had been expected to be made today by members of the West Midlands Planning and Transportation Sub-Committee – made up of members from seven councils.

But engineers and planning officers wanted more time to consider the implications and the costs of the upgrade.

Funding to operate the old wet film cameras ran out at the end of the last financial year on March 31. All cameras have now ceased operating because they have run out of film to capture images of drivers speeding, West Midlands Police has confirmed.

As of last month just 73 of the cameras were still in regular use while 89 were only dummy housings and were never used at all.

West Midlands Police doubled its fleet of mobile camera vans last year to four and now drives around the region to respond to speeding problems as and where they develop.

The budget from councils for speed cameras was slashed by £750,000 in 2011, leaving West Midlands Police to foot the remaining £1m bill alone. It decided at the end of last year that it would switch to mobile cameras in vans instead.

But councillors are meant to decide whether or not to fund a digital overhaul of the fixed cameras or remove them altogether.

A report is still being compiled by the Chief Engineers and Planning Officers Group, which works for West Midlands councils and is based at transport authority Centro.

Steve Swingler, spokesman for transport authority Centro, said: "A report into the future policy on safety cameras continues to be developed with careful consideration being given to road safety implications and the need for a financially sustainable system.

Franki Hackett of Brake said said getting rid of cameras was a backward step.