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London’s most prolific speed camera generated an extraordinary £1.5 million in fines in six months, the Standard can reveal today.

This means the camera, on the Ealing section of the North Circular Road, has been responsible for about one in three of all tickets issued in the capital.

Between switch-on last April and the end of October, almost 15,000 fines were issued to drivers exceeding the 30mph temporary limit on that stretch of dual carriageway. Drivers received a £100 fine plus three penalty points.

Motorist Terry Payne, who uncovered the figures after being caught driving at 36mph, said: “That single camera is making millions.”

Mr Payne, a magazine editor from Ham, began investigating when he was sent a ticket after taking his trainee midwife daughter to Stansted airport early one morning.

A freedom of information request to the Metropolitan police revealed that a total of 14,544 tickets had been issued in the camera’s first six months. Almost a third of these, 4,770, were issued in May — an average of 154 a day.

Most of the North Circular has a 40mph or 50mph speed limit but a 30mph restriction is in place on Gunnersbury Avenue, north of the Chiswick roundabout.

Transport for London, which approved the siting of the camera, said the speed limit was imposed to protect workers replacing the 94-year-old Power Road Bridge, which carries the North Circular over railway tracks.

The £35 million project is due to be completed in January next year.

Drivers have been warned to expect delays as lane closures will be required throughout 2017 for demolition and construction.

Mr Payne said he was not disputing that he had driven above the speed limit but claimed there were no road signs warning of the restriction. The camera is in an area where drivers tend to accelerate uphill away from the roundabout.

He told the Standard: “I think the general point is that people are simply unaware that they are driving in a 30mph zone. The signs have to be clearer.

“I’m not suggesting I was unfairly caught, but had the figures not yielded what they did I wouldn’t have bothered with it.

“I think the results of the FoI request suggest that there is something wrong with the signing along that stretch of road for so many people to be caught and fined — £100 plus three points is not irrelevant for most motorists. RAC roads policy spokesman Nicholas Lyes said: “It appears plain to see that motorists using west London’s busiest commuter route through Chiswick have become the unwitting speed camera victims of a poorly signed temporary 30mph limit.

“The RAC cautions that where the normal speed limit is reduced temporarily for a reason such as roadworks then, to be fair and effective, that change and lower speed limit must be clearly signed and highlighted with additional warnings. Where a significant number of penalty tickets are being issued then that should automatically set off alarm bells and warrant investigation.

“In this instance, where the speed camera has been raising abnormally high revenues worthy of a successful medium-sized business, then something is wrong — which understandably has angered motorists and adds weight to the mistrust that cameras are often used simply to raise revenue.”

Prior to the siting of the Gunnersbury Avenue camera, the most prolific of the capital’s 255 speed traps was at the A4 West Cromwell Road junction with North End Road, which caught 8,776 speeders in 2015.

A total of 90,543 notices of intended prosecution were issued in London that year.

TfL said the 30mph speed restriction was first imposed on Gunnersbury Avenue in May 2015, almost a year before the camera was installed. It said “additional signage” had been erected to warn of the limit. The money raised by the camera is sent to the Government.

Lilli Matson, TfL’s head of strategy and outcome planning, said: “We are committed to making London’s roads safer for all and managing traffic speeds is key to that.

“The limit on the A406 Gunnersbury Avenue has been reduced to 30mph from 40mph to ensure the safety of all road users and contractors working onsite to upgrade Power Road Bridge. There is clear signage in the area to advise drivers of this.”