THOUSANDS of drivers are attempting to evade speed camera penalties by exploiting loopholes in the law. Police forces are concerned at being overwhelmed by the number of challenges from drivers.

Speed camera partnerships between police and local authorities are having to recruit hundreds more staff to process the three million fines expected to be issued next year. This year more than two million people have been fined £60 and received three penalty points after being caught by one of 4,500 cameras.

The RAC Foundation estimates that several thousand motorists are fighting penalties using loopholes exposed in high-profile cases. One came to light in a case involving the Blackburn Rovers footballer Dwight Yorke, whose Porsche 911 was photographed doing 61mph in a 40mph zone.

Yorke’s agent filled out the police form on his behalf and returned it unsigned. A High Court judge quashed Yorke’s conviction in July after hearing evidence that he had not completed the form himself.

Police cannot use as evidence any form which has been completed by another person and then left unsigned by the offender.

They can prosecute the motorist under the Road Traffic Act 1988 for failing to supply details of who was driving when a speeding offence was committed, but these prosecutions are also being challenged on the ground that the Act does not specifically state that the form must be signed.

The issue is due to be tested at the High Court in the spring in a case involving Idris Francis, a retired engineer from Hampshire, who refused to sign a form after his car was caught speeding.

Another loophole was exposed by Neil Hamilton, the former Tory MP, and his wife Christine. She was cleared by magistrates after claiming that neither of them could remember who had been driving when they passed the camera.

John Josephs, a partner at Turner Coulston solicitors of Kettering, Northamptonshire, said that he was dealing with 40 cases using the “Yorke loophole” and several involving the “Hamilton loophole”.

“We have been inundated with people who feel very aggrieved after being caught a few miles over the limit following a long unblemished driving record,” he said.

The Department for Transport is awaiting the outcome of the Francis appeal before deciding whether to tighten the law. A spokesman said: “It will be interesting to see the interpretation given by the courts.”

Several police forces are attempting to close the Hamilton loophole by introducing digital cameras which give a much sharper image of the car and may help to identify who was driving.

THE LOOPHOLES

• The Dwight Yorke loophole: The footballer’s agent filled out the form. The High Court ruled against its use as Mr Yorke had not signed it himself
  
• The Hamilton loophole: Neil and Christine Hamilton claimed that neither could remember who was driving
  
  
• Technical loophole: Two North Yorkshire PCs argued signs were illegal because of a black border instead of a red one
  
  
• Dating loophole: Challenges have been successful if notices of prosecution were issued more than 14 days after the offence, or had errors
  
  
• The granny get-out: Drivers register vehicles in the name of non-driving relatives, who do not return the form, the maximum penalty for which is a £1,000 fine and three penalty points. The points are irrelevant to non-drivers

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Should Knox’s trial even have reached the courtroom?
• All that glitters is not sold in Wright’s world
• Believe it or not, Big Brother is your friend