TWO hundred drivers are caught speeding in Nottinghamshire every day.
A total of 73,052 motorists were recorded travelling over the speed limit in the last financial year – up 53 per cent from 47,600 five years ago.
The offences generated almost £730,000 a year in fines and revenue from speed awareness courses.
Police have admitted they sometimes hide behind walls to catch speeding motorists, although most offences are captured by speed cameras.
The increase has been put down to the fact there are more cameras on roads and the force now targets resources at areas where they know there are problems with speeding.
The revelation comes after the Post revealed on Friday that a speed camera on the A52 Clifton Boulevard is Britain's seventh most lucrative, clocking up 4,815 offences last year generating more than £100,000.
Groundsman Dennis Jackson says he was caught speeding at 41mph by an officer hiding behind a wall in Somersby Road, Wood- thorpe, which has a 30mph limit.
The 63-year-old, from Arnold, said: "I agree with catching people speeding and I was going a bit fast.
"However, the officer was hiding behind a six-foot brick wall and I don't think that is fair.
"I also think they should be concentrating on other things like making sure the roads are clear and people don't park where they shouldn't be like outside schools."
There are currently 41 static speed cameras and 49 mobile units in operation in Nottinghamshire.
Chief inspector Andy Charlton said the use of cameras and targeted resources had seen an increase in the figures.
"It is not that we are using more officers – it is a case of how we are deploying them," he said.
"We will employ appropriate tactics to catch those speeding.
"There are times when it is a benefit to employ covert tactics.
"However, we mostly want to people to see what we are doing.
The money made through course attendance is put back into enforcement so the offenders are paying for their own enforcement."
He added that the enforcement had helped reduce the number of casualties on the road.
According to the latest Department for Transport statistics, 31 people were killed and 432 seriously injured on the county's roads – down by 20 per cent on the previous year, when there were 33 deaths and 545 serious injuries.
Is it fair to catch speeding drivers by hiding behind walls? Let us know by email at opinion@nottinghampost.com
