Swindon to ditch speed cameras

A town is to become the first in the UK to ditch speed cameras after the local council branded them “a blatant tax on the motorists”.

Conservative-run Swindon Borough Council wants to pull the plug on £400,000-year-funding for its cameras.

Councillors want to spend the money instead on other road safety measures such as speed humps and vehicle-activated speed signs.

The move could starve the Wiltshire and Swindon Safety Camera Partnership of funds and hit camera enforcement across the region.

Councillor Peter Greenhalgh said: “We treat road safety very, very seriously but we pay about £400,000 a year to the partnership – money which goes straight into the Government’s pockets. We don’t get anything back.

“Instead we feel this money should be spent on a range of local safety measures.”