Police in County Durham claim their "softly, softly" anti-speeding tactics have been vindicated after a dramatic fall in traffic accidents.

The scheme has been so successful that Government ministers are examining ways of adopting a similar approach nationwide.

Four years ago, Durham Constabulary rejected fixed speed cameras in favour of targeting hot spots with a mobile camera and cameras mounted on 15 marked police cars, an unmarked police car and an unmarked motorcycle.

Instead of issuing automatic speeding tickets, officers distributed cautions to some drivers and worked with partners to suggest engineering changes to make roads safer.

The approach has resulted in a 40 per cent drop in the number of road accidents in the county over the four-year period.

Now the Government has announced plans to follow Durham's example by axing hundreds of fixed speed cameras across the country.

Assistant chief constable Ron Hogg has written to Transport Minister John Spellar expressing his delight at the move.

He said: "We have used a targeted and focused approach to enforcement rather than the blanket prosecution of drivers.

"We know drivers in County Durham and Darlington widely accept the need for effective policing at problem times in areas where speed-related accidents occur.

"The vehicles and equipment we use are highly visible and there are also signs to warn drivers.

"Given the high profile nature of our presence in these hot spots, we know drivers can have few complaints about our robust approach to inappropriate speeding."

Other North-East forces have adopted a different tactic.

In Cleveland motorists are three times more likely to receive a speeding ticket as a result of another trial scheme which allows the force to use money from fines to buy more cameras.

Officers who champion this tough approach to speeding say the "no mercy" approach has reduced the number of cars breaking the limit from 62 per cent to 32 per cent.

In County Durham traffic officers have estimated that fixed cameras could have resulted in the issue of 70,000 speeding tickets a year.

Instead, between 1,100 and 1,200 drivers a month have been prosecuted and 4,000 issued with cautions.

ACC Hogg said the former course of action would only have alienated people.

"Our area has a population in the region of 600,000, and if we had issued fixed penalty tickets to 70,000 drivers a year, we would have succeeded in alienating a large slice of the mainly law-abiding people we serve, exhausting the goodwill of the very people whose help and support is so vital to us," he said.

"The softly-softly intelligence-led approach is working and fewer people are being killed or injured on our roads."

An AA spokeswoman said: "Each method has its place, but taking drivers aside and deciding how to deal with them is probably going to have most success in changing people's attitudes."