A report from the Ministry...

A report from the Ministry of Justice shows that speeding accounts for 40 per cent of all driving violations.

But it’s not traffic cops who caught these motorists breaking the rules – it’s speed traps. More than two million tickets were handed out in 2006, and a huge 95 per cent were snapped by fixed roadside cameras.

However, a clampdown in Suffolk suggests even more law-breaking motorists could have been collared using traditional methods. In a week-long initiative, police caught more than 1,500 speeding motorists with mobile cameras – while local Gatsos flashed only 364 times.

The Government report says that only one offence actually increased from 2005 to 2006. Careless driving was up by 26 per cent – a reflection of the crackdown on motorists using mobile phones since the ban was introduced in December 2003.