THOUSANDS of words have been written over the past few months on the controversial subject of the siting of speed cameras across East Lancashire.

Road safety campaigners maintain that cameras are an important weapon in their effort to reduce driving speeds and thus, they believe, cut the outrageous toll of death and injury on our roads.

Others argue that the presence of fixed speed cameras could itself be a safety hazard because of a risk of shunts as motorists jam on their brakes on their approach to the yellow boxes to avoid setting off the cameras.

Some people also voice a suspicion that cameras are placed in spots where they are likely to 'catch' large number of drivers a few mph over the legal limit - for example on straight downhill stretches - because earning revenue through fines is a major factor.

Those working to meet targets for reducing the number of accidents insist that trapping large numbers of drivers is not the primary consideration.

As a step towards proving that they are not acting sneakily, from today Lancashire police are to make public through the Lancashire Evening Telegraph proposed mobile speed camera sites for the following week.

Motorists are now on notice to keep within speed limits. No one who is caught speeding on these roads can any longer say they were not warned.