AROUND £400,000 is being spent by police to overhaul speed cameras across Dorset.

Work to install the new cameras has been taking place in recent months with the former models becoming "obsolete".

The Dorset Road Safe partnership, which includes Dorset Police, BCP and Dorset councils and Highways England, is in the process of upgrading from wet film to digital cameras across the county.

Once the replacement project is complete, there will be 30 sites capable of facilitating the newer detection cameras, with 20 cameras rotated through those sites.

A Dorset Police spokesman said: "We can confirm that Dorset Road Safe is in the process of upgrading all its fixed safety cameras from the old ‘wet film’ technology, which is becoming obsolete, to digital cameras. "

The digital cameras are capable of covering up to four lanes of traffic and do not require secondary road markings – white lines – to function.

The upgrade of a wet film camera to digital costs around £20,000 per camera, meaning a significant investment in the region of £400,000 has been made, with Dorset Police covering this cost.

Details released by Dorset Road Safe partnership confirmed the Redflex digital speed cameras that are being rolled out detect speed only.

It is not an average speed camera like those on A338 Spur Road from north of Blackwater to Cooper Dean. Instead the camera detects and digitally transmits traffic speed violations using a 4G signal, although they do have 5G capability.

The digital camera system does not perform automatic number plate recognition as some people had speculated online.

Over the period of 2018/19, a total of 22,716 motorists were nabbed driving above the limit on Dorset's roads.

Dorset Police counts speeding as one of its 'fatal five' – the five most dangerous behaviours for those behind a wheel.

Inspector Joe Pardey, of the traffic unit, said: “Fixed speed cameras are one of the methods Dorset Police and partners use to help keep our roads safe. They are located in key locations that have been identified as areas of concern, often by local communities, for speeding and road safety issues.

“Driving at excess speed is a major risk factor for causing collisions and it is clear that the higher the speed of vehicles involved in a collision, the more serious the consequences are likely to be. Speed cameras can have an important role to play in encouraging people to drive at appropriate speeds on our county’s roads.

“As well as fixed site speed cameras Dorset Police uses mobile camera vans and officers from our roads policing team, including our No Excuse officers, regularly patrol the county’s roads to help ensure motorists drive in a safe manner and do not put other road users at risk.

“For more information on our work with partners to keep Dorset’s roads safe visit www.dorsetroadsafe.org.uk.”