Four times the number of motorists are being fined and twice as many end up in court for speeding in Norfolk compared to 10 years ago. More than 25,000 fixed penalty notices were issued for speeding in the county in 2005, the most recent figures available, and 2,824 fines imposed at magistrates' courts.

The number of Norfolk motorists paying fixed penalty fines or ending up in court for speeding has soared in the last 10 years.

More than 25,000 fixed penalty notices were issued for speeding in the county in 2005, the most recent figures available, and 2,824 fines imposed at magistrates' courts. This compares to nearly 5,000 notices and 1,225 fines at court in 1997.

The figures were yesterday defended by Bryan Edwards, operations manager for Norfolk Safety Camera Partnership, which is in charge of 19 yellow speed camera boxes.

He said: "The biggest number of complaints we and the police get from the public is still about speeding. While we have not had a request to take one of our speed cameras down, we're always getting requests to put them up at dangerous spots.

"While we have got 19 yellow speed camera boxes in Norfolk, we've just five cameras to rotate between them.

"We've got four mobile speed cameras and one motorbike to cover 6,000 miles of road in Norfolk, and we even tell people where the vans and cameras are going to be."

Lorna Jackson of Brake, the road safety charity, said: "The figures are positive in that it shows people are being caught and punished for speeding, but it also shows that there are still a huge number of people willing to break the law."