PLANS to curb the relentless rise in the number of speed cameras on Britain’s roads are expected to be announced by the government this week.

Alistair Darling, the transport secretary, is likely to scrap existing funding arrangements whereby revenue from speeding tickets is ploughed back into new cameras.

The move will mean that the number of camera sites in the country — about 6,000 at the moment — could finally level off.

Ministers are concerned that motorists have lost faith in the system and perceive the devices as primarily a means of generating income rather than saving lives.

The number of £60 fines issued to speeding drivers has increased tenfold in the past decade from 200,000 in 1995 to more than 2m last year.

The country’s 38 camera partnerships, which consist of police forces and local authorities, are currently allowed to keep a proportion of the money raised through fines as long as it is reinvested in more cameras. Any surplus revenue goes to the Treasury. Last year this sum was £22m.

The government wants the partnerships to consider alternative means of improving road safety, such as better layouts at junctions and more visible warning signs, and only to erect speed cameras as a last resort.

Darling is expected to announce that revenue generated by the devices will in future be collected centrally and redistributed to partnerships for a variety of road safety schemes.

Earlier this year the Department for Transport announced a moratorium on the installation of cameras at new sites, blocking applications for 500 devices.

The decision was prompted by a review of performance at Britain’s camera sites. The results of this study may also be unveiled by Darling this week, and are likely to show that cameras are an effective means of reducing casualties.

“There is no doubt that safety cameras save lives,” said a government source.

According to guidelines, fixed cameras may only be installed at sites where there have been four crashes resulting in death or serious injury in the previous three years.

The partnerships argue that not all of these accident blackspots are yet covered.

Last month, however, it emerged that ministers regard Lincolnshire as a model for a new approach to road safety. In that county, officials have managed to reduce casualties while issuing fewer fines.

Local authorities have already been urged by Stephen Ladyman, the road safety minister, to ensure that speed limits are set at “appropriate” levels.

Motorists who are caught marginally over a 30mph limit will have their licences endorsed with just two penalty points rather than the present three, under provisions laid out in the Road Safety Bill, currently going through parliament.

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