Great Yarmouth roadworks leave speed camera useless

The camera, on Caister Road, should take pictures of a vehicle when the wheels go over electric strips on the road

A road camera failed to catch any speeding motorists for two months because of a blunder by workmen, it has emerged.

The speed camera in Caister Road, Great Yarmouth, should be triggered by sensor strips in the road being passed too quickly.

But when the road was resurfaced in June the strips were covered with tarmac.

Norfolk County Council said it would aim to "do better in future".

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The cause of the problem appears to be the change in speed camera type from a Gatso machine to a Truvelo device. The former uses radar to monitor speed while the latter has piezo electric strips in the road and takes a forward-facing image of the driver.

Workers have now been to the road to fix the problem

A spokesman for the council said: "There is usually a tried and tested system for contractors to follow when carrying out road repairs at sites where safety cameras exist.

"This has worked successfully for a number of years, but in this particular case involving a new kind of camera it's clear that the system has not worked.

"We will therefore be talking to the Safety Partnership shortly, to ensure we do better in future."

Anne Pointon, from the Norfolk and Suffolk Camera Partnership said: "Norfolk County Council tend to tell us in advance of resurfacing work. But on this occasion it didn't happen."

The new strips have been put into the road and the camera is operational again.