Bournemouth drivers escape speeding fines due to camera fault

Dorset Police confirmed 884 speeding offences were cancelled because of a camera fault

Hundreds of drivers have escaped speeding fines due to a camera fault.

Dorset Police confirmed 884 offences detected on cameras along the A338 spur road in Bournemouth were cancelled.

Online news platform, Bournemouth One, revealed it was because a camera had been found out of alignment due to vandalism.

The force said in an effort to be "fair and transparent" it had cancelled all offences detected between 7 and 16 December.

A Dorset Police spokesperson confirmed the drivers concerned had all been contacted.

They said the misalignment of the average speed cameras along the southbound stretch between Blackwater junction and Cooper Dean roundabout "potentially breached the cameras' approval parameters as approved by the Home Office".

A minimum speeding fine is £100, while the cost of a driver awareness course is £120.

The cost of cancelling the offences detected on the vandalised cameras means an estimated lost revenue of at least £88,400 if all drivers had been prosecuted.

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A police statement said: "Dorset Police has the duty to ensure that we do not proceed to prosecute traffic offences unless we are content that the evidence is robust.

"We believe the dealignment of the cameras, meaning that the area of the road captured by the cameras' image moved slightly, was due to vandalism.

"This is not to say that the reported drivers were not identified correctly or that offences were not committed during that period. However, in an effort to be fair and transparent, it was decided to cancel 884 offences detected on those specific cameras for that specific period."

The force said the would be no cancellation of any southbound offences outside the stated period "as checks showed that the alignment was within approved parameters and evidence was deemed robust".

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