More than 4,000 motorists can expect an unexpected gift from the Highways Agency this Christmas when they learn that their speeding fines were unlawful.

A total of 4,128 drivers have been prosecuted since April for exceeding a temporary 40 mph speed limit on the eastbound stretch of the A5117 dual-carriageway at Deeside Park, Chester.

Each has been fined, had points deducted from their licences or attended speed awareness courses but now they are being informed that they have been wrongly prosecuted. It transpires that nobody had bothered to renew the legal order enforcing the measure.

It was in October, 2006 that the Highways Agency instigated a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order cutting the limit from 70 to 40mph. It was made valid until April 8 this year.

Although the agency sought a new order to cover fresh roadworks, they forgot to renew the order for the existing stretch of road. The signing and cameras remained in place.

It means that the prosecutions between April 8 and December 17 are, effectively, invalid.

Cheshire police are currently identifying those affected to tell them how their fines will be refunded or points reinstated. They cannot, however, do very much about their day spent re-learning the Highway Code in the school room.

A Highways Agency spokesman said: “Temporary orders can be extended for periods of 6 months at a time. Unfortunately in this instance the Highways Agency did not implement the legal powers to extend the order”.

The spokesman emphasised that the legal anomaly has now been rectified. He pointed out that the vast majority of motorists using the road over the last eight months obeyed the posted restrictions and, as a result, workmen have been able to operate in safety.

Superintendent Guy Hindle, of Cheshire Police, said: “We are not happy to progress with offences on this road which occurred between April 9, 2008, and December 17, 2008.

“Anyone who committed a speeding offence between these dates on this section of road will be entitled to have the points removed from their licence and their fines returned”.

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