POLICE cameras caught speeding or dangerous drivers every nine minutes they were on the road in January, new figures have shown.

North Yorkshire Police’s camera vans were active for just over 578.5 hours in January, although no figures were available for January 30 or 31.

In the 34,716 minutes the speed cameras were active, 3,879 offences were logged - the equivalent of one every nine minutes.

Of those clocked, 3,400 were offered speed awareness courses (SACs) - the lowest penalty available - while 439 were fined £100 and issued with three penalty points.

Forty were considered ‘high-end offenders’ and summonsed directly to court.

The worst hot-spots

  • On the A64 at Bramham Moor, 57 SAC invitations were issued in 90 minutes on January 15, along with four fines and one court summons
  • The A61 Leeds Road in Harrogate saw 57 SACs and four fines issued in 90 minutes on January 18
  • The A19 at South Kilvington near Thirsk saw 55 SACs and 17 fines issued in 93 minutes on January 28, as well as three court summonses.

Andy Tooke, criminal justice operations manager for the force, said the Traffic Bureau team had already had a positive effect in reducing the number of fatalities and casualties on North Yorkshire’s roads, and six new vans would soon be operational.

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Mr Tooke said: “These new smaller, more agile vans will provide North Yorkshire Police with greater flexibility to enforce in previously inaccessible locations, such as some of the more rural areas of the county.

"The vans will also be fitted with ANPR capability, meaning they are not only increasing road safety, but also tackling cross border and rural crime.

“The new advanced technology also allows greater opportunity to further challenge other inappropriate road use, such as using a mobile phone behind the wheel and similar anti-social offences, which will assist with our drive to continuously improve road safety.

"The new vans will be based at key locations around the region, cutting down on travel time to deployment sites and increasing enforcement time.”

Common locations for the most serious offenders to be spotted by the speed cameras were the A64 at Whitwell on the Hill and the A19 at Crathorne, while fines and points were frequently issued on the A64 at Bramham Moor and Heslington.

In the same period last year, road safety cameras were active for 41,309 minutes - 110 fewer hours than in 2017. In that time, 5,939 drivers were stopped for various offences - the equivalent of one every seven minutes.

Of these, 5,137 were offered speed awareness courses, 744 were fined and given penalty points, and 58 were summonsed to court.

Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan said the increase of camera vans from six to 12 would improve coverage in rural areas, but the training of new operators accounted for the lower number of hours spent on the roads last month.

She said: “The new vehicles have been purchased and fitted out, and extra safety camera operators have been recruited who are currently undergoing training, so the new vehicles will be on the road very soon.

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“In the meantime, enforcement action is reduced slightly while those being trained are behind the camera. Only when they have passed training can they undertake enforcement action themselves.

"We think we are also beginning to see signs that drivers are changing their behaviour and now driving more slowly, and in turn more safely, which is very welcome indeed.”

North Yorkshire Police publish the locations for their road safety camera vans every week online, and do not profit from the fines issued to speeding or dangerous drivers - the money goes to central Government, and to pay for speed awareness campaigns, including Community Speedwatch.

In 2014/15, the force’s Traffic Bureau generated £1,049,000, of which £886,000 was used to fund the vans and £163,000 was ringfenced for road safety schemes.

Where are the cameras at the moment?

NORTH Yorkshire Police said their mobile safety camera vans will be in the following locations around York this week: