10 speed cameras make £25million

THE ten most lucrative speed cameras have made up to £25million in fines over three years.

The cameras caught 253,684 drivers, who would have each been fined at least £100.

One was triggered 41,056 times on the A449 in Kidderminster, Worcestershire – an average of more than 250 times a week.

The camera has become so unpopular that vandals set fire to it last year.

Another top camera is in Barrowby Thorns in Lincolnshire, where 35,584 were snapped.

And one camera on the eastbound M62 between J18 and J19 was triggered 29,205 times, according to the Daily Star, which revealed the figures.

Other high-earning cameras are in Canterbury, Bradford, Coventry, and Taunton in Somerset.

Experts have blamed a fall in the number of traffic police for the increasing reliance on speed cameras. The number of dedicated road police officers fell by 27 per cent between 2010 and 2015.

Hugh Bladon, a spokesman for the Alliance of British Drivers, said: ‘If they are catching this many speeding motorists then there must be something wrong with the speed limit.

‘Sadly there are now too few police on our roads to catch the people who drive like lunatics and instead they just put up speed cameras everywhere.

‘There are not enough police on the roads to act as a control.’

It comes after police data revealed only half of all fixed speed cameras are switched on. Out of a total 2,838 cameras, only 1,486 are in use, Freedom of Information requests found.