Nowhere to hide for speeders and red light dodgers. (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Nowhere to hide for speeders and red light dodgers.

MORE safety cameras to catch speeders and red light dodgers will appear in Wiltshire.

The Wiltshire & Swindon Safety Camera Partnership has been successful in its bid to invest in greater speed and red traffic light enforcement using money recovered from fines.

The partnership is one of 25 to have now received authorisation to participate in the government's safety camera cost recovery scheme - to start from April 1.

Motorists in Wiltshire will not notice any immediate changes, but from April there will be an increase in the number of locations where safety camera enforcement may take place throughout the county.

These locations will be clearly signed and details of their whereabouts will be published and announced through the local media.

Safety Camera Project Manager Clive Nicholls said: "This decision does not signal the start of a war against motorists in Wiltshire.

"However, it does mean that we can now put more resources into winning the battle to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries that occur annually on our roads as a result of excessive or inappropriate speed."

"We do not want to catch hundreds and thousands of motorists each year, we do not need to. However, we do want and need to slow down motorists travelling in the area, and we would like to do this with the consent and support of the people of Wiltshire and Swindon.

"You often see signs asking motorists to 'please drive carefully through our village'. We hope that, by working with the community, and letting people know what we are doing and why we are doing it, they will support us in sending the message 'please drive carefully through our county'.

"There are those who will criticise the increased use of safety cameras in the struggle to reduce the casualty rate, and it is right to recognise that there are many factors other than excess speed that contribute to the overall casualty figures.

"Poor driving decisions, inattention, fatigue, adverse weather conditions all play a part in keeping annual casualty figures at an unacceptably high level.

"But, making people more aware of speed limits, more understanding of the need to comply with them at all times and more alert to the possibility that they could be fined if they don't, can only be seen as a positive step towards improving safety on our roads."

During the 12 months from December 1 2000, there were 51 fatalities, 393 serious injuries and 3,212 slight injuries on the area's roads. About one third of casualties were speed related accidents.