ALL fixed speed cameras in Somerset could be switched off by April after the County Council rejected an application from the police to take over the running costs.

The news follows a decision by Avon and Somerset Police to disband the Safecam partnership that currently runs and maintains speed cameras throughout the county.

Cabinet Member David Hall said: “The Police approached us to take on responsibility for maintaining and replacing fixed safety cameras.

“We understand their position, but in the current challenging financial climate we are unable to take on the considerable costs of running the cameras ourselves, particularly as we believe that many of them are nearing the end of their operational life and would shortly be due for upgrading.”

The cost of running Somerset’s 14 fixed safety cameras could reach £60,000 per year, with an upgrade to convert them to digital costing a further £405,000.

Mobile cameras will still operate across the County by the Police and the successful National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) is also expected to be available to some speed offenders.