Which fixed speed camera catches the most drivers in Cumbria?

Exclusive figures reveal an average of about 1,700 drivers are caught breaking the limit by the county's fixed traps every month.

But information obtained by CN Group reveals there are big differences at the various sites in the number of drivers issued with penalties.

The most frequent snapper caught more than 17,000 drivers over this period.

But two of the sites spotted just over 1,000 law-flouting motorists each.

Generally, authority figures and motoring representatives thought the cameras served a purpose - and contributed to road safety.

Cash goes back to central government. The cameras in question were initially put in at known accident blackspots.

Cumbria has nine static camera sites scattered across the county.

Each contains two monitors to watch out for motorists on both approaches to the site.

They sit at:

• Salthouse Road, Barrow

• Millside on the A590 in the south of the county

• The A591 at Ings, near Kendal

• The A65 at Kirkby Lonsdale in south Cumbria

• Howgate in west Cumbria

• Low Row, on the A69, near Brampton

• Warwick Bridge, on the A69, near Carlisle

There are also two average speed cameras.

One was installed at roadworks on the A66 at Marron Bridge, the other sits in the east of the county at Kirkby Thore.

Our figures show the camera site that caught the most motorists in three years was the set-up in Warwick Bridge, near Carlisle.

It was behind 17,365 penalties between 2015 and last year.

The average speed camera at Kirkby Thore came second in the total number of penalties.

It issued 14,412 tickets - this time over just the two years it has been in existence.

In third place came the camera site at Ings, which was behind 12,048 tickets.

The site to issue the lowest number was the set-up at Howgate, sitting between Workington and Whitehaven.

The top site at Warwick Bridge sits in a village on the main route from Carlisle to Newcastle - and is notorious locally for catching unaware speeding drivers.

Doreen Parsons is the Carlisle city councillor for the village.

She said in general the people in the village thought the cameras were a force for good.

But she wished they had been put further west on the A69 towards Carlisle.

"Villagers think it's a good thing that the cameras are there," she said.

"They slow the traffic down. But, unfortunately, when coming west, when drivers get past the camera they tend to speed up.

"And they're speeding up towards a corner where children cross.

"In the morning when the children are crossing the road my heart is in my mouth every time."

She said there was a need for the set-up on the busy stretch.

"I just wish the camera had been put a bit further towards Carlisle," she added.

"And I think had it been put a lot further towards Carlisle people wouldn't have the distance to speed up."

She added: "It was needed in the first place.

"I've never come across anybody that thinks they are a bad idea."

In the south of the county the A590 and A591 are where the static cameras dish out the most tickets.

Janet Willis, county councillor for Low Furness, said speeding is a problem on the busy A590.

"To be honest it's the whole of the A590, not just one stretch. It's one of my big bugbears.

"I was one of the councillors who helped secure funding for the Greenodd roundabout, to help improve safety.

"I've also funded a community speed gun because as soon as anything happens on the A590 people use the villages as a diversion.

"I drive along the A590 every morning. You see people speeding but then slow down when they get near the cameras.

"The police just don't have the resources to tackle it though.

"If so many people are being caught by the cameras we could probably do with more on other stretches though."

As well as the static cameras, police put out mobile traps.

And Cumbria Safety Cameras - which works with police and bodies such as parish councils - carries out enforcement, using four bright yellow vans.

The Cumbria Road Safety Partnership draws together public organisations and groups to cut death and injury on the county's roads.

It monitors and operates the static cameras - and aims to ensure the locations do not turn back into accident blackspots.

A police spokesman said: "Speed cameras are a vital tool to help keep Cumbria's roads as safe as possible.

"They catch those who are driving at inappropriate and often dangerous speeds and also act as a deterrent to those drivers who might otherwise exceed the speed limit.

"Speed is one of the fatal four factors which contribute to deaths on our roads.

"The others are failure to wear a seat belt, drink and drug driving and distraction driving, often where a driver is using their mobile phone."

If the fine is settled without a court appearance, it will leave motorists out of pocket to the tune of £100.

Speed awareness courses are offered to offenders who meet certain criteria, including relating to the speed at which they were caught.

If they choose to go on a course, motorists avoid a fine and penalty points but instead pay to attend the half-day course.

Police say that if a driver qualifies for and completes a speed awareness course a portion of the course cost is claimed back by the force.

But any cash raised through fines goes to Whitehall.

The spokesman said fatal crashes in Cumbria had reduced significantly in the last decade.

"However, there are still too many people dying on our county’s roads," he added.

"It is the job of our officers to break the news to family members who have lost loved ones in such collisions.

"This is why, as part of Cumbria Road Safety Partnership, Cumbria Police is always working to do everything possible to reduce fatal and serious injury collisions."

The Expert View

The AA says most of its members are in favour of speed cameras.

A spokesman added: "The thing about static speed cameras is they are mainly located at accident blackspots.

"This is somewhere where they need to get drivers to behave themselves.

"It's where a junction or a treacherous stretch of road has become notorious for accidents."

As well as slowing local motorists down they are also there to warn tourists in a county like Cumbria, which draws in thousands every year.

"Somewhere like Cumbria gets an awful lot of tourists through the year," added the spokesman.

"They won't know those roads. They are there to make sure they don't come to grief.

"Speed cameras, by preventing accidents, are pretty cost effective."

He said the AA regularly questions its members on road issues.

"One of the questions we ask is about the acceptability of speed cameras," he said.

"That level of acceptability is always between 70 and 80 per cent."

Are there dummy cameras?

Police in Cumbria say they aim to have all of the county's static speed cameras running - but technical issues can force shut-downs.

The force says there are no "dummy" cameras in Cumbria - but problems sometimes mean cameras require repairs.

The results for each camera:

* Salthouse Road, Barrow - 1,476

* A590 Millside - 6,393

* A591 Ings - 12,048

* A65 Kirkby Lonsdale - 6,667

* Howgate - 1,059

* A69 Low Row - 1,099

* A69 Warwick Bridge - 17,365

* A66 Marron Bridge - 1,365

* A66 Kirkby Thore - 14,412

The options available to someone caught speeding - depending on their speed

• A speed awareness course

• Conditional fixed penalty - Three points on licence and £100 fine

• Magistrates court. Here outcomes can be as great as being disqualified from driving and fines can be substantially more than the fixed penalty.