ESSEX Police snared the highest number of speeding drivers since records began last year, figures reveal.

The force logged 31,409 speeding tickets paid by drivers snapped on camera in 2018.

This far exceeded the 13,355 tickets paid out in 2011 – when comparable records began.

The figures, the latest available from the Home Office, show not every snap resulted in a fine.

Overall, cameras flashed for 86,778 speed violations in Essex last year.

A volunteer with Eight Ash Green and West Bergholt speedwatch group, who asked not to be named, said the group could typically expect to catch as many as 12 drivers speeding across one hour.

Every weekly session the group records speeds on roads across the two rural villages.

He said: “When I heard about the speedwatch group, being semi-retired I decided you can’t complain about things and not be prepared to do something about it.

“Along the A1124, the main road through to Halstead, we will typically get about a dozen speeders, perhaps 15, in an hour.”

Samuel Nahk, senior public affairs officer at Brake, added: “Breaking the speed limit by any amount can have devastating consequences and drivers who selfishly ignore speed limits put not only themselves, but other road users, at serious risk.

“Speed cameras play a crucial role in enforcing our traffic laws, and are a proven, cost-effective way of reducing speed and preventing deaths and serious injuries.

“However, road safety isn’t just about enforcement, we need safer speed limits, safer vehicles and safer road infrastructure to make sure that no journey ends in tragedy and we all manage to get home to our loved ones safely.”

A spokeswoman for Safer Essex Road Partnership said: "Speeding offences are a measure of enforcement capacity, not driver behaviour. 

"If we stopped enforcing there would be no recorded offences, if we had more capacity to process, there would be more recorded offences.

"The 31,409 figure is for those speeding offences that were dealt with by way of conditional offers - points and a fine.

"The most common disposal for speeding was an NDORS course, 45,839 according to the document. 

"NDORS courses have been shown to reduce reoffending rates more effectively than conditional offers."

She added: "Speeding is an issue nationally, it frequently features in collisions where people are injured, but is most common in the collisions with the highest injury severity."

Offenders can be sent on a driver retraining course, which includes those on speed awareness, meaning figures for fines may differ widely across the country.

Across the county in 2018, camera-detected speed violations led to 6,385 court actions and 45,839 drivers undergoing a retraining course.

There were also 3,145 cancelled fines.