37,000 Midlands speeders caught on camera

More than 37,000 speeding drivers were caught by nine cameras set up in vans at the side of the road in the West Midlands and Staffordshire area over the past year.

In Staffordshire alone, 23,757 drivers were caught by seven cameras, compared with 26,295 who were recorded by the old-fashioned fixed speed traps.

In the West Midlands police area 13,334 notices of intended prosecution were sent out after drivers were caught by just two mobile cameras.

The entire network of fixed speed cameras across the area caught 65,133 people. Only 73 out of 305 fixed speed cameras in the West Midlands are still in use.

Each mobile camera is responsible for catching an average 4,121 drivers over the past 12 months, potentially bringing in more than £247,000 in fines, based on a £60 fine for each offence.

By comparison the working fixed cameras would have caught an average of 450 drivers over the year.

Funding cuts and rising costs of processing old-style wet film have taken their toll on the fixed cameras so the majority are now dummy housings, with a camera periodically moved between sites. Replacing wet film cameras with digital ones would cost £1.2m.

Staffordshire Police is not using 130 out of its 263 cameras following cutbacks.

Police and council bosses in both areas today praised the effectiveness of the mobile cameras but did not commit themselves to buying more as a replacement for the fixed Gatsos.

Councillor Mike Maryon, who oversees highways and transport for Staffordshire, admitted: "Fixed cameras do pose a problem because it costs a lot more than it used to to develop the films."

By Political Editor Daniel Wainwright