Motorists caught on camera speeding or jumping traffic lights made a £21.7 million donation to the Treasury last year.

Statistics for the 2003-4 financial year, released by the Department of Transport under freedom of information legislation, showed that total receipts from fines were £113.5 million, of which £91.8 million was reinvested in road safety and covered the cost of the safety camera partnerships.

Bert Morris, the director of the AA Motoring Trust, questioned whether the cameras were doing the job they were meant to do. "The issue is whether they are really deterring people from speeding," he said. "This is a huge amount of money."

Alan Duncan, the shadow transport secretary, accused the Government of using speed cameras as a cash cow. "They are raiding speed camera revenues in the same way as the lottery," he said.

4 July 2005: The £1.2m M4 speed trap

telegraph.co.uk - 26/07/2005