Speed camera arson attack

Vandals who set a speed camera alight on a busy stretch of road in Telford put the lives of drivers and pedestrians at risk, it was today claimed.

Safety campaigners said the camera in Holyhead Road, Ketley, had been responsible for a 60 per cent cut in the number of accidents since it was installed four years ago.

It was attacked at 3am today by arsonists who piled clothes on top of it and then set them on fire.

The camera, near to the Telford Millennium Community housing development, was not destroyed in the fire but about £100 damage was caused to the cabinet housing it.

Katy Jenkins, a spokeswoman for the Safer Roads Partnership in West Mercia which is responsible for the cameras, said: "Any interruption in the operation of this camera could potentially affect the safety of road-users, both motorists and pedestrians, and put lives at risk.

Irresponsible

"Thankfully, we get few of these kind of attacks on our cameras but the main loss for us is not in monetary terms but the loss to the community. It is irresponsible."

She said the speed camera enforced a 30mph speed limit for a reason, namely that there had been a number of collisions and a demonstrated speed problem on the stretch of road.

"Its aim is to slow drivers down and to reduce the number of road traffic collisions and casualties," she added. "Damaging a speed camera in this way is a serious matter and highly irresponsible."

Telford police spokeswoman Denise Wakefield urged anyone who witnessed the attack to contact police.

It is not the first speed camera in the town to fall victim to arsonists.

In October last year, vandals placed a tyre on top of the camera in Dawley Road, Arleston, and draped a blanket over the top before pouring over a full can of petrol and setting fire to it.

A camera in Station Road, Ketley, was hit twice in six months after being installed in 1995.

The town's most controversial speed trap is in Bennetts Bank in Wellington, which was Shropshire's first permanent camera. It has been attacked three times - in one incident, a motorist sliced it in half with an industrial circular saw.

By Simon Hardy