Nearly £700,000 is being spent on a fleet of new mobile camera vans in a bid to put the brakes on speeding drivers in Hampshire.

Hampshire Police & Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, has announced the major investment as part of an ongoing commitment to make the county’s roads safer.

The money will be spent over the next four years on a new fleet of vehicles as some of the force’s vans are 16 years old and desperately need replacing.

They will be fitted with the most up-to-date technology like HD video, fully-surround camera imaging, and active remote sensors that use laser pulses to create precise 3D maps and models of objects, terrain and environments.

The current fleet carries out speed checks at more than 250 sites across Hampshire with 37,384 offences being caught by the vans last year.

Mrs Jones is adamant the vans have prevented further tragedies on the county’s roads and insists the time is right for an upgrade.

She said: “While proving highly dynamic, these vans are up to 16 years old and need upgrading.

“Without this investment, they’ll end up being taken off the roads – leaving them without the critical enforcement needed to keep them safe.

“But it’s important to recognise that road safety is a shared responsibility,” Donna added.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re heading to work, doing the school run or popping to the shops, everyone has the right to use the roads without fear of injury.”

Earlier this year, the PCC held her inaugural Road Safety Summit where she announced major investment for road safety projects.

The investment was announced alongside the creation of new Roads Policing Tasking Team with a focus on the Fatal Five: speeding, drink or drug driving, distraction, not wearing a seatbelt, and careless driving.