A vigilante motorists' group which destroys roadside speed cameras has warned it is stepping up its campaign in the Midlands.
The record numbers of drivers being caught speeding has resulted in the formation of a shadowy group called Motor-ists Against Detection (MAD).
MAD claims already to have destroyed 700 speed detectors - some of them in the Midlands - and says many more will follow.
Its spokesman, known only as Captain Gatso, said: "We have more than 200 active members throughout the UK with a unit of more than 20 operating in the West Midlands.
"We are moving into a new phase which will see increased operations across the country. "If we continue our campaign, we believe in about 18 months or two years we will see the back of speed cameras, except in blackspot areas.
"The cameras we are interested in getting rid of are those placed for revenue, not safety."
Balaclava-clad motorists destroy cameras in a number of ways including burning, bombing or decapitating them.
In June a speed camera on the A51 at Sandon, near Stafford, was set ablaze. And last November, a home-made bomb was attached to a device on the A5 at Gailey, near Cannock.
Each time a camera is destroyed it costs up to £24,000 for a replacement. Last year 1,000 new speed cameras were erected.
According to the Department for Constitutional Affairs, more than 1.2 million people were caught speeding last year by the 6,300 cameras that line Britain's highways.
That led to £73 million being paid in fines - a massive rise compared with the 1997 figure of just £11.5 million. Since 1996 almost five million drivers have been caught speeding.
The Department of Transport says that it increased the number of speed cameras when pilot tests showed they reduced deaths and serious injuries on roads by 47 per cent.
