'Top 10' cameras net £3.1m a year

Official figures reveal the shock speed camera total, with one on the A1 generating £570k a year

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Jon Morgan

09th November 2011

Britain's top 10 cash-generating speed cameras have been revealed – and between them, they rake in a staggering £3.1million in fines each year.

Top of the pile was a temporary camera on the southbound A1, between junctions four and three in Hertfordshire, which caught an average of 789 drivers a month. That works out to an incredible £568,000 a year in £60-a-time fixed penalty notices.

The runner-up was a fixed camera on the A3 Anglesea Road in Portsmouth, which netted £387,000 a year after trapping an average of 537 motorists a month.

And the camera on the A40 Western Avenue in London wasn’t far behind in third place. It generated £359,000 a year by clocking 499 speeders a month.

The Government figures also revealed the most camera-strewn route in the country. Motorists travelling along a stretch of the A259 by the seafront in Brighton, East Sussex, run a gauntlet of 11 cameras over the course of just 12 miles. More than 18,000 drivers have been caught out on this stretch in the last three years, with the cameras raising more than £1million in fines.

But not all Gatsos proved so lucrative. A site on the A348 in Ferndown, Dorset, didn’t snap a single speeder in three years.

A spokesman for the Association of British Drivers said the amount of money being generated by the top 10 camera sites was unjustifiable. “We’re not against cameras per se, but they need to meet certain criteria,” he explained. “They need to be targeting areas with a large number of speed-related accidents.

“Unless it can be shown that there’s an excessive number of speed-related accidents in these areas, the cameras are clearly revenue raisers. Generating half a million pounds from a single camera in a year can’t be justified.”

The figures were obtained via a Freedom of Information request from The Sun.

UK’s top 10 flash for cash speed traps

1. Hertfordshire: A1 southbound (J4-3) £568,080

2. Hampshire: A3 Anglesea Road, Portsmouth £386,640

3. London: A40 Western Avenue £359,280

4. Manchester: M60 (J25) £329,760

5. Hull: A1165 £303,120

6. West Midlands: A34 Great Barr £270,000

7. Kent: A21 Tonbridge bypass £245,520

8. West Mercia: A40 Lea £231,840

9. Lincolnshire: A1 Colsterworth £219,600

10. Nottinghamshire: A1 Elkesley £208,800

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4 Comments

The cameras are obviously not stopping people from speeding so what is their point apart from generating revenue from those stupid enough to get caught?

By fuzzynavel on 10 November, 2011, 9:53am

Pro Camera

These speed cameras may well be considered to be in "the wrong" location. The opinions here suggest that they are just money spinners for the various councils. But no one has forced these drivers to break the speed limits, have they.
If anyone gets stopped or caught breaking the law then should be man or woman enough to accept the consequences, and stop bleating about it.
What the old phrase, "if you can't do the time, them don't do the crime".
If drivers just applied some common sense and just obeyed the rules of the road then there would be absolutely no need for cameras.

By yamahatdm850 on 10 November, 2011, 5:47pm

£3.1m revenue - good!

fuzzynavel, you make a good point, but...

Think about it. Every £ raised through speed cameras is a £ less that has to be raised through general taxation.

I'd rather £3.1m was raised from boy-racers too stupid to slow down, than from me paying higher income tax.

Whilst improving safety must always be the main factor, the more cash these cameras raise the better as far as I'm concerned.

By quintilian on 10 November, 2011, 5:47pm

quintilian,

My point wasn't that speed cameras are a bad idea...it is just that these particular ones are ineffective at doing what they are supposed to do and slow the traffic.
I do my fair share of speeding on motorways only.....around town is just an accident waiting to happen so I just don't do it.
It is nice that the revenue comes from the cameras but I think different methods need to be used.
I hate to say it as I don't like the things but average speed cameras always make me slow down for the duration of the roadworks etc that they are covering..
I also take notice of the signs that flash up to show your speed then show a "thankyou" or "Slow Down" message....It's always nice when it says "thankyou" and I find myself thinking "what a twat" if someone else gets a "slow Down" message...

We have to think though....where has this money all gone from the cameras???......it should be put somewhere where it can be seen to be doing some good not into some black hole in government spending..

By fuzzynavel on 15 November, 2011, 9:15am

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'Top 10' cameras net £3.1m a year