HAMPSHIRE Police will be stepping up their mobile speed camera operations after "outstanding" accident reduction figures since their introduction.

A safety partnership between Hampshire Police, the county council and the Highways Agency will be bidding to the Department of Environment, Transport, Local Government and the Regions within the next year for extension of their existing schemes.

The A325, which in 1997 was the first route in the county to operate the mobile cameras system, has been judged a "success" by police, who now have 10 routes covered by mobile units within the county.

They are now also considering introducing fixed speed cameras, following successful nationwide trials which this week saw four more forces - Derbyshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire and North Wales - announce their participation in the fixed camera scheme.

Susan Rolling, media officer from Hampshire Police, said that though the county does not currently have any fixed cameras, they were under consideration as an effective means of combating speeding.

She commented that since the county's introduction in 1997 of mobile units, casualty reduction figures had been a "great success".

She explained that the forces who have announced their participation in the scheme, making 12 in total, will now be able to keep a percentage of fine money for the administration costs of running the camera systems, including staff and equipment.

"We know that they have the desired effect and as far as we are concerned, safety is the name of the game, not money."

She said that all mobile speed camera units were fully marked vehicles, and officers wear high visibility clothing as they "wanted people to know that if they speed they are going to get a big fine" and believed that it worked well as a preventative safety measure.

She said that mobile cameras are used on 127 kilometres of road in Hampshire which have been earmarked as high speed-related casualty spots.

In the three years before mobile camera introduction in 1997, there were 1,682 casualties in the county. In the three years after they were introduced there were 1,481, which represents a 12 per cent fall.

Speed-related collisions fell 36 per-cent, from 379 to 241.

Police deputy supervisor for Hampshire traffic John Baldwin said that the cameras aimed to have the effect of making speeding more "socially unacceptable", especially as there were 91 deaths and more than 1,000 serious injuries from road accidents in the county last year.

He said that reducing road speed was "crucial" to reducing these figures, and felt the goal was realistic.

Sarett Martin, of Hampshire County Council, said the council welcomed the initiative, as cutting the number of casualties caused by speeding was a key of the local transport plan.

She added that the council was pleased to assist the police in its enforcement activities and measures to make roads safer.