SHOCKING new figures have revealed East Lancashire’s biggest speeding hotspots.

In total 22,063 tickets have been issued to speeding motorists in the East of the county over the last 12 months, with a staggering 11,580 coming from one fixed camera.

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The figures, released by Lancashire Police following a Freedom of Information request by the Lancashire Telegraph, showed that 70,291 offences were detected across the county in the last year.

The minimum penalty is a £100 fine and three penalty points added to your licence, meaning that at least £7,029,100 will have been generated in that period.

The most active camera in East Lancashire was A59 Longsight Road near Abbott Brow, Osbaldeston, which snapped 11,580 motorists and accounted for nearly one sixth of speeding tickets in the entire county.

In Blackburn with Darwen the most active camera is on the A666 Bolton Road near Longshaw Lane, Blackburn, with 785 and in Hyndburn it was the A680 Manchester Road near Alliance Street, Accrington, with 169.

The second speeding hotspot in the East of the county is the A646 Rossendale Road, near Farrington Road in Burnley, with 1,017 speeding offences.

In Pendle it is the A682 Manchester Road near Farrer Street, Nelson, with 426 speeding offences.

The figures have led to safety campaigners and community leaders to call on ‘irresponsible’ and ‘reckless’ motorists to slow down before lives are lost.

Blackburn with Darwen Council’s highways and regeneration boss Cllr Phil Riley said: “As recent cases have suggested, including the tragic death of the seven-year-old boy in Bastwell, there is a problem in the area with speeding.

“We need to encourage a change of heart in those drivers who feel obliged to speed on suburban roads in such a reckless and irresponsible way.

“They need to understand this is dangerous and can result in fatalities.”

Cllr Alan Schofield, who represents Ribble Valley South West on Lancashire County Council, said: “I am not against speed cameras in appropriate places.

“The number of people who have been caught speeding on this stretch of the A59 clearly shows there is a need for a camera there.

“Speed cameras are there as a deterrent and hopefully the presence of that camera and people seeing these figures will result in people modifying their behaviour before someone is seriously injured or killed.”

Burnley Council leader Cllr Mark Townsend said: “It is disappointing these figures are so high.

“It is disappointing that motorists haven’t heeded the warning that speed kills and so many are being caught.

“They need to slow down to ensure the safety of other road users and pedestrians.”

County councillor Marcus Johnstone, who represents Padiham and Burnley West, said: “I have been sent a ticket from that camera in Rossendale Road, Burnley.

“In my view the vast majority of people do drive responsibly but there is an element of lunatic and hooligan drivers.

“They need to be stopped before they cause a fatality.”

Hyndburn Council leader Cllr Miles Parkinson said: “The last thing any motorist wants to do is have an accident and injure someone.

“Regardless of whether it proves to be fatal, it stays with you for life and I would encourage everyone to slow down.”

Cllr Bernard Dawson, who represents Accrington South on the county council, said: “The number of tickets in Manchester Road doesn’t surprise me because you do get people coming off the bypass in Rising Bridge and creating issues with speeding.

“That’s what the cameras are there for. It’s not about raising money, it is about saving lives.”

Pendle Council leader XCllr Mohammed Iqbal said:” We have an issue with speeding in Pendle.

“A a recent council meeting we moved a motion asking the Government to legislate to stop hire car companies hiring out high-powered vehicles to young drivers.

“I would also ask the Government to put the proceeds of speeding tickets in to a ring-fenced fund to be spent on hiring police officers who can specifically target those mindless idiots who cause so much misery on the roads of Pendle and further afield.”

In total 1,722 tickets were issued in Blackburn with Darwen, 12,183 in the Ribble Valley, 286 in Hyndburn, 6,888 in Burnley and 984 in Pendle.

The top five speed hotspots were Longsight Road in Osbaldeston, the A646 Rossendale Road in Burnley, the A671 Westway in Burnley (1,323), the A646 Rossendale Road near Cog Lane in Burnley (1,017) and and Bolton Road in Blackburn.

Police did not release the figures for Rossendale.

A police spokesman said: “We take speeding seriously are committed to reducing the number of people killed and injured on the county’s roads and will continue to use enforcement, engagement and education of drivers to help us achieve this.”

A spokesman for the road safety charity Brake said: “Speed cameras are not only cost-effective, but carry a significant cost-benefit to the public purse.

“Installation, maintenance, and administration can be self-funded by fines, if this money is ring-fenced to re-invest into road safety measures (although this is not always the case: in the UK fines go straight to central government, but are not reinvested in cameras or other road safety measures).

“Cameras will also pay for themselves several times over in the money saved to the economy by preventing deaths and serious injuries: road crashes were estimated to cost the economy £16.3billion in 2014 due to human costs and costs to emergency, health and criminal justice services.”