A Council is lobbying the government to let speed camera fines collected in an area be used by that area for road safety and camera investment.

The Mayor of Bedford and the town’s Borough Council want the installation cost of each set of average speed cameras to be returned to councils for reinvestment in cameras and road safety, but legally that doesn’t happen at the moment because the money goes to the Treasury.

Bedford introduced average speed cameras onto local roads in 2012, the first in the country to do so.

The Bedford Independent newspaper quotes Lib Dem Environment Committee spokesperson Councillor Tim Hill as saying, “Average speed cameras are incredibly effective at bringing down speeds, as I know very well from my ward.

“Communities across Bedford Borough have benefitted from this Council being the first in the country to bring them in. That’s why we’ve got that long list [of locations] put forward by a wide variety of people.

“Instead of keeping the fines to boost its own coffers, the government should return the cost of installation of each set of speed cameras to communities to reinvest in road safety.

“That would be fair, it would build more trust in the system and it would help Councils like ours make our roads even safer.

“We know that the Mayor and the Council have lobbied for this, but the Government has flatly refused.

“If it had any sense of fairness and a real commitment to road safety, it would start listening to this authority and stop hoarding this cash in Whitehall.”

(Picture – Jenoptik)