Speed camera locations: Britain’s most active cameras and regions where you’re mostly likely to be flashed

Speeding is the most common driving offence in the UK, with more than two million motorists fined every year for breaking the speed limit.

While some of these offenders are caught by police patrol officers, far more are spotted by the nation’s network of speed cameras.

Now, new data from police has revealed some of the individual cameras which are set off most often, as well as the regions where drivers are most likely to trigger a speed trap.

A single camera between junctions 7 and 16 on the M25 in Surrey has been identified as the UK’s most active camera, being triggered an average of 63 times every single day. That amounts to 75,803 activations in the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2022.

Further round the M25, a camera on the approach to the Dartford Tunnel is the second most active unit in the country, recording 52,548 offences - equivalent to 44 per day.

Elsewhere, cameras on the A1081 Airport Way, near Luton, the M3 in Surrey and the A270 Lewes Road in Brighton round out the top 5 most active cameras, with 36, 33 and 33 activations per day respectively.

All 44 UK police forces were asked for information on speed camera activity, with 24 responding and 19 providing full data on individual units. Among the forces with major population and traffic centres which did not respond were Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Thames Valley.

While the data collected via Freedom of Information request by Car Lease Special Offers shows how often fixed and mobile cameras were activated this does not translate directly into the number of speeding fines issued.

However, it does show that drivers in West Yorkshire are the most likely to set off a speed camera, activating the region’s speed traps more than a million times in the 38-month period.

They activated the speed cameras a total of 1,005,830 times - the equivalent of 848 per day or 35 per hour.

The police force area with the second highest number of camera activations was that covered by the Metropolitan Police, with 789,621 recorded camera offences - an average of 666 a day. And then Sussex police with 272,245.

At the other end of the table, Derbyshire police reported the fewest activations, with their cameras going off  34,177 times in the last three years. This averages around 28 flashes a day.

Will Bullen, automotive expert at Car Lease Special Offers commented: " While speeding continues to be the biggest offender when it comes to driving fines, it’s important to remember to stick to the speed limit and avoid dangerous driving that could cause harm to yourself and other road users.

“Before you travel make sure you know the route you wish to travel on or research it before you go on a trip, and leave yourself plenty of time to arrive at your destination to avoid having to speed up and get caught by a camera."