Police in Thames Valley issued more than 150,000 speeding tickets over a two-year period

A total of 151,501 speeding tickets were issued by Thames Valley Police over a TWO-day period in January, new figures show.

The figures make up a new league table revealing which police forces issued the most speeding tickets in Britain, with Thames Valley Police in third place.

Drivers in West Yorkshire are most likely to be caught speeding, according to the league table put together by road safety experts at Road Angel.

Police there issued almost a quarter of a million fines for speeding during 2021 and 2022, far more than any other force who provided their data. However the experts were keen to stress that only 23 out of 44 police forces provided figures.

The number of speeding tickets issued by Police forces in Britain from (Jan 21 to Jan 23) are as follows:

West Yorkshire – 224,160

Avon and Somerset – 173,428

Thames Valley – 151,501

West Midlands – 95,093

Surrey – 87,270

Bedfordshire – 69,818

South Yorkshire – 67,255

Hampshire – 62,514

Lincolnshire – 59,525

Hertfordshire – 53,627

The police forces who responded to a Freedom of Information request showed huge differences in the number of speeding tickets issued.

Some of these differences may be accountable by varying population within the regions but it also suggests that some forces are targeting drivers more than others.

For example a driver is three times more likely to be caught speeding in West Yorkshire than they would be just over the border in South Yorkshire.

Collectively, 224,160 speeding tickets were issued to drivers in West Yorkshire during the two year period with almost all offenders caught on speed cameras.

Around 98% of the speeding drivers in West Yorkshire were caught on fixed speed cameras, while the rest were fined directly by police officers.

Police in Avon and Somerset issued 173,428 tickets, the Thames Valley force fined 151,501 drivers while their police colleagues in the West Midlands issued 95,093 tickets.

Even rural counties such Hampshire and Lincolnshire appear in the table with police there issuing 62,514 and 59,525 tickets respectively.

Gary Digva, founder of Road Ange,l said: “There are major discrepancies around the UK in how the police target speeding drivers.

“These figures reveal that motorists are much more likely to fall foul of speeding limits in some police force areas than they are even in neighbouring authorities.

“We doubt the motorists in these regions are worse drivers than those in other parts of the country so we feel the differences are more likely to be explained by a variation in use of cameras around the country and other policing issues.

“While all sensible drivers condemn speeding we would call on the police to adopt a more uniformed approach so that drivers can be confident of being treated the same way around the UK.”

The minimum penalty for speeding is a £100 fine and three penalty points added to your licence.

You could be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of three years.