SPEED cameras set up in the county's accident hot spots have generated £1.6 million from motorists, reports Lisa Frascarelli.

Cumbria Safety Cameras (CSC) the operational arm of Cumbria Road Casualty Reduction Partnership generated the seven-figure sum between April 2003 and March 2004.

However, the partnership made up of Cumbria Constabulary, Cumbria County Council, the Highways Agency and Cumbria Magistrates Services can only claim costs from the bumper revenue, with any surplus going back to central government coffers.

Figures released by the partnership, which stressed the speed cameras were not about money-making but life-saving, showed that while serious injuries on the roads fell over the past two years, fatality figures rose from 39 in 2002 to 59 in 2004.

However, public relations manager for CSC Kevin Tea said the figures were misleading because they accounted for accidents across the whole of the county and not just the 47 accident hot spots that CSC covered.

"We look at the county as a whole, not just the 47 hot spots which we cover," he said.

"In 2004, the number seriously injured on the 47 hot spots was down 73 per cent. In that respect, where we are operating we are getting compliance from drivers."

He added that the last quarter of 2004 was an exceptionally bad year for the county with the fatalities figure jumping from 35 in September to 60 in the last three months of the year.

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