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Daily Mail, Wednesday March 22nd 2006
By Ray Massey, Transport Editor
Raking in millions of pounds a year, it's possibly Britain's most money-spinning speed camera. But it's proving such a goldmine that magistrates are struggling to cope with the 'tens of thousands' of drivers snapped by it.
The camera is sited on a Surrey by-pass at the point where the speed limit drops from 70mph to 50mph.
At least 400 motorists caught by it are waiting for their cases to reach court. They are either challenging their fines or face court action because they are alleged to have been well over the speed limit.
Speed camera partnership officials and the police refuse to say exactly how many more have been snapped and simply paid the £60 penalty without contesting it.
But the partnership - which also comprises magistrates and council chiefs - admitted that 'tens of thousands' a month could have been caught but it was 'not in the public interest' to give precise figures. Even at 10,000 prosecutions a month, that would be 120,000 a year - equivalent to £7.2million. The true figure, however, could be many times that.
The camera, on the A3 Esher by-pass s positioned a quarter of a mile after the three-lane northbound carriageway narrows to two lanes and the speed limit is reduced by 20mph. In two days alone last week, Staines Magistrates Court dealt with 54 cases created by the camera, with penalties ranging from £60 to £700. Almost all of those whose cases were heard admitted their offences by letter and were absent when magistrates dealt with them. Most were fined and received points on their licence.
A court source, who did not want to be named, said: "It's staggering how many cases we're receiving. We've got more than another 400 in the pipeline. We're finding it hard to keep up. It's incredible that these are all coming from one camera."
One of the biggest fines handed out over March 14 and 15 was to Michael Banks, of Chobham, Surrey. Mr Banks, a management consultancy company director, admitted driving at 86mph in the 50mph zone. He was ordered to pay £700 and received six penalty points on his licence.
Duncan Knox, of the Surrey Safety Camera Partnership, which took over responsibility for the camera in April 2005, denied the camera was being used to generate revenue. Partnerships retain a proportion of the cash raised from fixed penalties, but not from fines paid into court.
Mr Knox insisted: "An increase in the number of people in court doesn't benefit us. Any fines paid in court go to the Treasury. We can only recover our costs from people who pay the conditional offers which arrive in their letterboxes." He refused to say how many people were being prosecuted overall because of the camera. "If we let people know how many tickets are generated per site, people may get to know which sites are enforced," he said. "Its not in the public interest to give out that information." But he admitted that if the camera was operating seven days a week, and its threshold was set just above the 50mph limit, it would be catching 'tens of thousands' of drivers a month. He claimed the camera had cut accidents from an average of six to 1.5 a year. Surrey Police also refused to say how many people were caught by the camera. "Such information is site specific and can't be given out," a spokesman said.
Paul Smith, founder of the SafeSpeed campaign, said the device at Esher was well-known - and loathed - by drivers. "The camera is clearly making a vast amount of money but it's impossible to find out how much," he said. "The secrecy is clearly to hide their greed."
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