A TOP speed of 126mph has been clocked by speed cameras on the A417 near Cirencester in the last year.

Speeds of between 115mph and 126mph have been recorded at Dartley Bottom on the A417 between April 2013 and May 2014, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has revealed.

The speed limit on this stretch of road, near Perrotts Brook and Middle Duntisbourne, is just 70mph.

“Speed limits are a limit. They are not a target to beat,” said IAM chief executive Simon Best.

“Unfortunately this message has not got through to many motorists and it’s clear that efforts to make speeding as socially unacceptable as drink driving continue to fail.”

Mr Best went on to say the government, motor industry and charities needed to keep driving home the message that excessive speed kills.

He added: “Catching speeders at two or even three times the limit also shows the importance of keeping speed cameras at well-known black spots,” he continued.

“We all share the roads with these speeding drivers and the government must crack down on them with more consistent penalties and tougher measures to break their addiction for speed.”

A driver on the M25 in Swanley holds the record for the highest speed captured by a speed camera in England and Wales between April 2013 and May 2014.

The 23-year-old man was caught travelling at 149mph and was banned from driving for six months and ordered to pay a hefty fine.

The drivers caught speeding at Dartley Bottom were made to pay fines of up to £700 with one driver receiving a two-month driving ban.

A spokesman for the Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership said the road was often targeted by police officers with mobile speed cameras.

He added that the organisation is working to educate drivers through training schemes while also talking with schools and communities.

“We know that the busiest and longest roads in the county are those that attract the most accidents and we regularly monitor our highways and work hard to improve them if improvements are needed,” he said.

“But roads aren’t dangerous by themselves, it’s the way people use them that increases the risk of injury.

“The number of injuries on Gloucestershire’s roads has fallen in the past decade and we know that the best way to reduce it even further is to continue to tackle driver and pedestrian behaviour.”