County safety cameras to be kept in use

The county says its success rate in reducing deaths and serious injuries on the roads – with the second lowest casualty toll in the UK – has resulted in the decision.

It was announced last week that speed cameras across the West Midlands would be switched off in April as part of a drastic cost-cutting programme that has already seen more than two-thirds of 305 fixed camera sites made redundant.

But today County Councillor Mike Mary-on, Staffordshire's cabinet member for highways and transport, said there were no plans for a blanket switch-off this side of the border. Current figures show that the number of people killed or seriously injured at camera sites in the county had fallen by an average of 65 per cent since the cameras were set up.

"Speed enforcement by both fixed and mobile cameras is key to the work of the Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership and provides an opportunity to re-educate some drivers through a speed awareness course rather than resulting in prosecution," said Councillor Maryon.

In Staffordshire, almost half of fixed yellow Gatso cameras have been turned off following cutbacks, with 130 of its 263 not being used at 'low priority' sites and only 29 being turned on at any one time.

Despite this, the number of motorists caught by fixed cameras has shot up by 20 per cent to 26,295 in the past year. The county also relies on six mobile camera vans. The West Midlands has announced a review will now take place into the long-term future of cameras at the worst accident blackspots, with council chiefs considering spending £489,000 to upgrade the outdated cameras from costly wet film to digital.

Until a decision has been made, they will rely on cameras in vans that will be driven around the region's busiest roads.

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

The entire network of fixed speed cameras across the area caught 65,113 people. Only 73 out of 305 fixed speed cameras in the West Midlands are still in use.

The decision on the upgrade to digital in the West Midlands has been deferred by the West Midlands Planning and Transport Sub Committee, which is made up of councils in Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley, Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry.