COUNCILS are facing a race against time to find illegal signs after a loophole was revealed which could see hundreds of drivers dodge speeding fines.

Local authorities throughout the Cleveland Police area are carrying out surveys of their signs to make sure they fit regulations laid down by the Department for Transport.

The move comes after North Yorkshire Police officers David Burlingham and Andrew McFarlane successfully challenged their speeding charges by claiming a black border around a sign made it illegal.

Their courtroom success has sparked anger among neighbouring Cleveland Police, motoring organisations and campaigners.

But a solicitor said last night it could lead to other motorists facing charges using the same argument to get off - while drivers who have already paid their £60 fixed penalty and had three points put on their licence could now appeal.

Barry Gray, of Hartlepool solicitors Smith and Graham, said: "They have to argue that their original plea could be deemed unequivocal because it was made on the basis of lack of information which is now available.

"They can go through the process of appeal where they can seek leave to reopen their case and either withdraw their plea or appeal against the verdict and sentence.

"There will also be those who have not reached court yet who will be looking very carefully at this case and querying whether or not they want to pay, but they are going to have to take advice on that."

Cleveland Police said last night it was too early to say whether pending cases on the same stretch of road, the A171 at The Charltons, near Guisborough, would now be scrapped.

But after a similar signage problem on the A689 in Hartlepool this year, all not guilty cases were dropped.

Cleveland Police chief constable Sean Price described the two officers' escape as "legally absurd", and added: "I do think it is particularly unfortunate that the defendants were serving police officers."

Tony Vickers, of the Association of Advanced Motorists, said: "I think they have a higher responsibility to protect the good name of the police service and not use this kind of trivial technicality to wriggle out of a speeding conviction."

Mick Bennet, public relations manager for the Cleveland Safety Camera Partnership, said: "The discrepancy of the sign is of such a minor nature and black border does not detract from telling people what the speed limit is.

"No one has been misled and everyone knows how fast they can go on that road."

Highways engineers in Hartlepool, Stockton, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland are now examining their signs to make sure they fir the criteria.

Of the 100 in Hartlepool, it is thought "a handful" may be illegal, while in Redcar and Cleveland there are 16. Figures for Middlesbrough and Stockton are not known.

Police in the Northumbria, Durham and North Yorkshire force areas said they were confident none of their signs would need to be changed.

... and the biggest irony is the speed camera was invented by a rally driver

THE speed camera - recently rechristened "the safety camera" - was invented by Dutch rally driver Maurice Gatsonides.

He devised it to help him in competitions and said it saw him to victory in the 1953 Monte Carlo rally.

But when he retired in 1958, Mr Gatsonides adapted his invention to trap speeding drivers, and his company, Gatsometer, now exports worldwide.

In 1992, a year after the first cameras were put on British roadsides, he said: "It probably hasn't made me very popular."

There are now more than 5,000 on Britain's roads, which earn tens of millions of pounds a year from motorists.

In the North-East and North Yorkshire, there are dozens of permanent and mobile camera sites. They brought in more than £2m last year.

Neither Durham nor North Yorkshire police have fixed camera sites, but one mobile camera is used on Durham's accident blackspot roads, while patrol cars in North Yorkshire are fitted with cameras.

The first Gatsometer consisted of two rubber tubes set across the road a precise distance apart, and linked to a mechanical stopwatch.