SPEEDING motorists face getting caught by North Yorkshire’s first speed camera van, which is now patrolling the county’s roads.

The van, which was unveiled at Elvington airfield yesterday, will enforce speed limits on hazardous roads and encourage motorcyclists to ride more carefully.

Backed by North Yorkshire County Council, City of York Council, the Highways Agency, and North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, a four-man team will operate the van 15 hours a day, seven days a week, until Christmas.

Traffic Constable Andy Forth said the marked van, which has five cameras providing 360-degree coverage, would be deployed on more than 100 identified speeding hotspots in York and North Yorkshire.

Police will focus on locations which have a history of collisions where motorists have been killed or seriously injured, with a particular emphasis on motorcyclists.

If the pilot proves successful, North Yorkshire Police, last of the 43 forces in England and Wales to use the system, will look towards investing in a permanent speed camera van.

PC Forth said the cameras could detect the speed of approaching traffic from up to 1,000 metres away and the camera software would prevent people lying about who was behind the wheel.

He said: “You get drivers who have nine points on their licence whose partner will say they were driving to prevent somebody gaining further points. But it is pretty hard to trick the police when we have got an image on DVD of the person who is behind the wheel.

“Those people could then be charged with trying to pervert the course of justice.”

The system will record other traffic violations, including not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone. Last year, 20 bikers were killed on the county’s roads and speeding accounted for 24 per cent of all road deaths in North Yorkshire in the past three years. During the same period 1,128 were injured – including 299 people seriously injured – in collisions where speed was a factor.

Tim Madgwick, North Yorkshire Police’s temporary deputy chief constable, said: “Safety cameras are a first for North Yorkshire Police, being the only area in the country not to have fixed or mobile cameras.

“We are confident that this new development will help us to drive down deaths and serious injuries further.”