THE most prolific speed camera site in Oxfordshire has raked in an average of £184.24 a day.

The two cameras facing both directions in Botley Road, Oxford, caught 651 drivers speeding last year and brought in about £39,060.

Today the Oxford Mail reveals how many drivers have been snapped at each camera in the county and how many accidents have happened near every site.

Overall fixed Speed cameras across Oxfordshire raked in £356,660 last year from 5,911 prosecutions.

Oxfordshire’s speed cameras were turned off in August 2010 after the county council said it would not pay the £600,000 a year to keep them on.

But they made a comeback in April this year after it emerged the number of deaths on Oxfordshire’s road had risen by 50 per cent while they were off – from 12 to 18 year on year.

During the 212 days the speed cameras were on in 2010, the ones in Botley Road, where the speed limit is 30 miles per hour, made an average of £184.24 per day.

Fixed penalty charges are £60 though some of those caught may have foregone the fine by attending a speed awareness course costing £95 or even gone to court.

Oatlands Road resident Hugo Crombie, 54, said: “I am not that surprised to hear those cameras are the county’s most active.

“Speed and volume of traffic is an issue along Botley Road and I am pleased that those cameras are there.

“I think the speed limit along Botley Road should be 20 miles an hour because it is a residential road.”

The camera in Oxford Road, Woodstock, was the fourth most prolific, catching 381 people speeding during the seven months.

Town mayor Jill Dunsmore said: “I am surprised people seem to take no notice of it as the camera is in the middle of the road and much more visible than some others.”

But at the other end of the scale there were 13 out of the 68 fixed cameras in Oxfordshire which didn’t catch a single speeder in 2010, such as the ones in Audlett Drive in Abingdon and Cowley Road in Oxford.

In August the Oxford Mail used the Freedom of Information Act to reveal the camera in Worcester Road, Chipping Norton, had caught 1,020 speeding drivers in just one month in June this year, making it the busiest camera in the county that month.

The new figures released by Thames Valley Police yesterday showed that during 2010 the camera caught no one, but officers said there were periods when a camera site could not be used because of problems with the camera housing or road signs.

Meanwhile, the camera in Oxford Road, Thame, flashed 286 times in 2010, earning an estimated £17,160 despite the fact that there have been no accidents at the site in the past five years.

Mayor of Thame David Bretherton said: “Maybe there are no accidents because the camera is there.

“I don’t have a problem with it. It is an area where people used to speed and if the camera has the effect of slowing people down then fine.”

Richard Mann, of cycling campaign group Cyclox, said: “If you drive too fast you put in danger the people you cannot see.

“Speed cameras are useful in terms of getting across the general message that you have to drive appropriately, but they are only part of a sensible approach to speed management.”

Mike Embling’s 20-year-old son Grant was killed in a motorbike accident on the A4130 near Didcot in 2006.

The road safety campaigner from Sinodun Road, Didcot, said: “I am not convinced that fixed speed cameras are any use because people know where they are.

“You see a lot of people slow down and speed back up again so they don’t eliminate the problem.”

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: “All fixed camera sites have been reviewed and as a result the site in Oxford Road, Thame, remains a site of concern as speed is still an issue.

“All sites will continue to be subject to regular review.”

For a breakdown of figures on the speed cameras, including accidents, prosecutions and average speeds, see oxfordmail.co.uk

Click on this link for the full report of prosecutions and injury accident statistics for all of the fixed speed camera sites in Oxfordshire: Oxfordshire fixed camera statistics.pdf