When North Yorkshire's new chief constable starts work in the county, one of the first things he will be asked to look at is the issue of speed cameras. Helen Gabriel reports.

MANY motorists hate them, the Government has been accused of using them as a money-spinner and road safety charities say they save lives.

It seems everyone has an opinion on controversial "yellow boxes".

But while some neighbouring police forces bring in millions of pounds in fines each year by using fixed roadside speed cameras, and despite having about 6,000 miles of roads, North Yorkshire is one of the few counties where they are not in use.

Police chiefs rely instead on a team of 85 traffic cops to enforce the speed limits.

But North Yorkshire's new top cop will be asked to consider putting up speed cameras in York.

The Press told on Saturday how City of York Council leader Steve Galloway said the issue would be on the agenda for his first meeting with Grahame Maxwell, pictured, who is currently Deputy Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, and has been appointed as the new chief constable when Della Cannings retires in May.

Mr Galloway said: "We are delighted to welcome Mr Maxwell to the county and the city, and we are looking forward to working with him.

"There are a lot of issues to be addressed. He may, for example, have a different opinion on the use of speed cameras at accident black spots to his predecessor and I'm sure that, and increasing the police presence on our streets, will be on the agenda for our first meeting."

Mr Maxwell has already said he doesn't want to implement any changes too quickly.

First, he wants to take stock of how the force is currently operating and carry out a "capability and capacity review".

But North Yorkshire Police spokesman Tony Lidgate said the county didn't have any places where there were enough crashes for them to count officially as accident "black spots" - and therefore warrant the use of speed cameras.

He said: "The issue of black spots points us to the very nub of one of the reasons why we don't have speed cameras.

"You have to have a Safety Camera Partnership before you can have speed cameras, and their existence depends on the identification of what used to be called accident blackspots'.

"They had to fulfil certain criteria in the number of serious accidents that happened there and nowhere in North Yorkshire does.

"But our policy is that because of the almost unique nature of the county's geography, with 6,000 miles of roads to police, the force has learned by experience that the most successful policy is to target specific situations, roads or areas.

"For example, when they have Superbike races at Croft, we can confidently expect thousands of motorcyclists to head in that direction on certain roads. So, for the duration of that meeting, we will target those roads in a number of ways.

"We take the solution to the problem - in that case before it is even a problem. That is very much the North Yorkshire style of policing."

North Yorkshire Police target speeders with hand-held speed guns, but they also use other measures such as making motorists caught driving too fast watch a video where a victim of a road accident talks about the implications of speeding.

Paul Smith, founder of the speed camera lobbying group Safe Speed, said speed cameras made the roads more dangerous and has applauded police for targeting problem routes and dangerous roads with mobile patrols rather than permanent cameras.

But a spokesperson for Brake, the road safety group, said: "Speed kills. Speed cameras are essential in the fight against speed. Research at speed camera sites shows casualties are reduced."


Speed cameras: The figures

* Speed cameras outnumber police traffic patrol cars by up to seven to one in some areas, such as West Yorkshire, which has 262 cameras and 56 patrol cars, a ratio of one to 4.7.

* North Yorkshire, Durham, Dumfries and Galloway, Central Scotland and Northern Scotland all have no speed cameras.

* Residents in Wetherby Road, Rufforth, are calling for speed cameras because they believe "traffic calming" chicanes put in place last year have made the road more dangerous.

* The Press told last year how motorists on North Yorkshire's roads were forking out almost £1,000 a day in speeding fines after being caught by hand-held cam eras.

* In September 2005, 700 people who signed a petition to ask for speed cameras to be installed on a stretch of a road in York had their hopes dashed when council chiefs and police rejected calls for the cameras to be installed between Tang Hall Lane and Field Lane.

* In the three years since speed cameras were introduced in Humberside, 129 people fewer people were killed or seriously injured at camera sites than if they had not been introduced.