Ford Focus driver clocked at double 30mph limit on Northampton road despite warnings to watch out for speed cameras

A driver caught in a new speed camera location area set by Northamptonshire Police copped a £870-plus court bill after being clocked at more than double the 30mph limit.

Luke Edwin Reynolds, aged 33, was behind the wheel of a Ford Focus ST-3 Turbo which registered 62mph in Harlestone Road on April 20 this year.

Just a month earlier the Chronicle & Echo had revealed police snapped 79 speeding drivers and four with no seatbelts after adding the location, close to Cotswold Avenue, to around 170 county-wide where they make regular checks for speeding and other driving offences.

Reynolds, of Harrison Road, Lower Harlestone, pleaded guilty at Northampton Magistrates Court on Tuesday (November 16) and was fined £715 and ordered to pay another £161 in prosecution costs and a surcharge to fund victim services. He also had six points added to his licence.

Six camera-equipped vans in the Safer Roads fleet regularly visit more than 170 locations watching out for three of the 'Fatal Four' traffic offences — speeding, drivers using a mobile device at the wheel, and vehicle occupants not wearing a seatbelt.

The Fatal Four offences — which also include drink or drug-driving — are those most commonly linked to deaths and serious injuries on roads.

A Safer Roads Team spokesman said: "More than 3,000 people are killed on our roads each year. Excess speed not only increases the risk of a collision, but in the case of a collision, increases the severity of injuries sustained.

"By enforcing speed limits, we aim to reduce those figures.

"We are not interested in raising revenue — we're interested in making the roads a safe place to be for all users.

"Our most successful sites are those where we capture ZERO offences because it means everybody is driving safely."