SEVERAL red light cameras across the county are not in use, the Echo has learned. 

There are just five of the cameras actively in use across the county – and they’re all in Bournemouth or Poole. 

An Echo Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed two red light cameras are in use Bournemouth in Castle Lane East, at the junctions of Chaseside and Deansleigh Road. 

And the three in Poole include in Waterloo Road by Cabot Lane and two either side of the road in Holes Bay Road by Sterte Road. 

The red light camera at Cemetery Junction is not in useThe red light camera at Cemetery Junction is not in use (Image: Google Maps)

It means red light cameras such as the one in Wimborne Road at Cemetery Junction, Penn Hill Avenue and Parley Cross are currently not in use. 

The FOI has also revealed Dorset Police did not operate any red light cameras in 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

The cameras, in use since 2023, have only been upgraded as they were identified as “priority” sites identified when cameras were upgraded to digital, Dorset Police’s spokesman said. 

Back in 2020, around £400,000 was spent by the force upgrading its wet film speed cameras and five red light cameras to digital. 

Meanwhile, the spokesman added the force is waiting for the green light to upgrade the disused red light cameras elsewhere across the county, he added. 

The spokesman said: “As part of our wider programme of upgrading our camera sites across the county’s road networks from wet film technology to digital technology, we required new mounted supports for the digital red light cameras, which also require Home Office approval. 

“We have therefore worked with our partners to identify five priority sites that have been upgraded with the new digital red light cameras and mounted supports. 

“We will continue to work with our partners as we await approval for the remaining sites – there are currently seven in the BCP area and six in the Dorset Council area that will be upgraded in due course.” 

The current fine for going through a red light is £100 and motorists will also receive three points on their licence. 

The data shows nine offences were caught by the Cemetery Junction red light camera in 2019. In 2023, the five cameras captured 416 people jumping red lights and so far this year, 419.