THE head of a North-East speed camera scheme has criticised comments that cameras are used to raise money.

The police officer who brought speed cameras to Britain sparked the row after saying cameras should only be used to increase safety, not to raise revenue.

Peter Joslin, the former chief constable of Warwickshire, warned police they were in danger of turning the public against them by introducing more traps.

The head of a North-East camera scheme described Mr Joslin, 70, who retired six years ago, as out of touch.

Mick Bennett, of the Cleveland Safety Camera Partnership, said: "He clearly has not got a full understanding of how the scheme has developed since he was a policeman.

"I do not want to call him a silly old codger, but what I would say is that things have moved on since he introduced them, and we should be grateful that he did."

Mr Joslin was chairman of the traffic committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers from 1989 to 1992, during when the Conservative government was considering introducing cameras.

Following travel across Europe to see how effective they were, Mr Joslin persuaded the Tories the cameras should be used on Britain's roads.

The country's 4,500 speed cameras are forecast to issue three million £60 penalty tickets this year - raising £180m.

Mr Joslin said: "We are in danger of alienating the public. We must not lose public support.

"People are becoming cynical about what is going on with speed cameras. We are not a nanny state. Most people select a sensible speed to go at.

"Don't get me wrong, we kill ten people a day on our roads. Everything that can be done to reduce that should be.

"But cameras should be at accident blackspots, not in the best place to raise revenue."

Mr Bennett, a retired traffic officer, said: "We monitor casualty data and speed data on all roads, and we only introduce a camera where we see a need to, based on the number of accidents."