TRANSPORT chiefs moved last night to clear up the confusion surrounding speed camera signs.

Motorists have been left baffled about the legality of signs following a successful challenge by two police officers against their speeding tickets.

But the Department for Transport has issued a definitive ruling on what keeps them within the law - and given the all-clear for signs on many roads across the region.

The signs on the A171 near Guisborough, east Cleveland, which were contested by PCs David Burlingham and Andrew McFarlane, contained a speed limit and camera on a yellow background.

They were incorrect because the images - a warning sign and one giving an order - were bound together by a black border.

Officials from the four councils across the Cleveland Police area are carrying out a review of their signs to make sure they fit within the law.

There are 16 in the Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council area which need to be changed, and there are thought to be a handful in Hartlepool, but it is not known if there are any in Stockton or Middlesbrough.

Police and councils in Northumbria, Durham and North Yorkshire are confident none of their speed camera signs will need to be changed because of this week's court ruling.

Chief Inspector Wilf Lavery, of Durham's traffic department, said last night: "As a result of this issue having been raised in The Northern Echo, we reviewed the situation.

"Having done so, we are confident all the speed camera signs in the Durham force area comply fully with the relevant legislation and do not give grounds for concern."

Durham County Council's highways operations manager, Roger Elphick, said the confusion could seriously undermine successful road safety initiatives.

One sign which was initially thought to be illegal, on the A690 near Ramside Hall, near Durham, is not.

It has been installed to reduce the speed to 50mph as part of a safety scheme which has cut injuries by two thirds.

In the four years before the measures were introduced, there had been four deaths and 39 injury accidents - 12 serious and 27 slight.

In the four years since, there have been no fatal crashes and 13 injury accidents - two serious and 11 slight.

Mr Elphick said: "In a bid to improve the bad accident casualty record that this stretch of road had, the county council and Durham Constabulary have gone to significant physical and financial lengths in recent years to make the road safer.

"In 1998, a number of measures were introduced, including a reduction in the speed limit from 70mph to 50mph, the provision of hard standing areas for a mobile police speed camera and appropriate signing.

"Drivers looking at road signs should be more concerned about the instructions they give and the information they offer rather than the fine detail of their design."

* Captions on photographs in yesterday's Northern Echo, showing a sign at Chester-le-Street, one near the Ramside Hall, Durham City, and another at Stanley, County Durham, wrongly stated that they were illegal. We apologise for any confusion caused.