Speed cameras on a Midland motorway have caught a whopping 120,000 speeding drivers in just ten weeks. More than 1,700 motorists a day are being snared by the 12 cameras positioned along a seven-mile section of the M42 near Birmingham. The stretch is believed to be the most lucrative speed trap in Britain - netting the Treasury a potential £100,000-plus a day in fines, or more than £36.5 million a year. The Highways Agency - in charge of the cameras - say they were erected for safety reasons after a 70 mph speed limit was reduced to 50 mph while road-works take place. But they have been condemned as a money-spinning tactic by motorists who say they are operating even when no work is taking place. Six cameras have been erected both north and southbound between junctions 3a and 7 of the motorway while work takes place on a traffic management scheme. They are expected to remain in place until the year 2006 at least. The series of cameras has detected an average of 12,000 motorists a week in the last 10 weeks - more than 1,714 a day. If the tally continues at the present rate, it would work out at more than 625,600 a year. Each single camera is flashing almost 143 drivers per day, or nearly six an hour, meaning that one motorist is being caught at one of the 12 sites EVERY minute. It is not known how many drivers detected have received fines or penalty points, or have been prosecuted. And some motorists could have been hit with multiple speeding tickets as they pass through the stretch. If all 120,000 speeders were fined, it would mean more than £7 million for the Treasury since they were installed - and 360,000 penalty points on drivers' licences. A spokesman for the Association of British Drivers (ABD) condemned the use of cameras when workers were not on site. "The ABD does not want to see workers at risk," he said. "But the cameras should not be operational when there is no work taking place. "There are far too many cameras in this country, sited where there is no real safety need. "If each of the 120,000 speeders detected was fined, that would be £7.2 million for the Treasury in just 10 weeks. That's a nice little money-spinner." He was backed by motorists who used the busy route every day. One said: "These cameras are flashing drivers even when there are no workers around and all three carriageways are open. It is outrageous." But a spokesman for the Highways Agency defended the cameras. "They have been installed for both worker and motorist safety," he said. "Prior to the instalment there were a number of serious injuries to people working on the motorway." He confirmed: "Over the 10 weeks the 12 cameras have each detected around 1,000 speeding motorists a week. That's a total of 120,000. "Some of these will be the same drivers caught by each camera. " It is up to the police whether or not to fine or prosecute the motorists. "The cameras are working because the number of motorists exceeding the speed limit through the roadworks has fallen from 96 per cent to less than five per cent." There are 5,000 roadside cameras in Britain - the highest in Europe. Last year two million British drivers were hit with £60 fines and three penalty points after being caught by cameras, raising £17 million for the Treasury after costs. Richard Brunstrom, Chief Constable of North Wales and head of road policing for the Association of Chief Police Officers, wants to see the number of speeding tickets handed out rise to three million this year.
 But Britain's most senior policeman last week condemned the use of speed cameras to raise revenue. Sir John Stevens, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, criticised forces across the country for hitting motorists purely to generate cash. And earlier this month, former Warwickshire Chief Constable Peter Joslin, who argued the case for cameras in the early 1990s, called for their spread to be halted before lasting damage was done to public confidence in the police. | 
