A man who was fined for speeding on a Burnley road claims the ticket should be deemed ‘invalid’ as the van was positioned in the wrong place.

Stuart Tyrer received a speeding fine whilst driving down the A671 (Westway) in Burnley on February 2.

He said the van could not have possibly been able to capture his speed correctly because it was parked on a side road more than 20 metres away from the edge of Westway.

He said he has alerted the police to his concerns and feels other people may also have been fined on this section of the road.

In a letter to Lancashire Constabulary he wrote: “It appeared to be pointing at an angle of about 45 degrees in relation to the edge of Westway and looked to be working at a range of 170-180 metres when detecting the speed of cars travelling up and down Westway.

“I also understand the detection equipment being used was the LTI 20.20 Ranger DVD system.

“I have found and looked at the manufacturers instruction manual for the use of this particular speed detection equipment.”

He goes on to explain that the equipment may not have been used within manufacturers guidelines as the distance of cars travelling on the other carriageway would be 34 metres away.

The guidelines suggest the distance should be 20 metres away to be accurate.

Stuart said: “It would appear that for years it’s been operating in a position that is way outside the manufacturers guidelines and parameters for the use of the detection camera they are using in the van.”

He said he wrote to the chief constable in March and did not receive an acknowledgement or response. He has since sent a second letter last week.

He added: “What is interesting is the speed camera van has now been re-positioned from the bottom of Westway and it has been moved to the top of Westway and is now positioned on the central reservation between the up and down carriageways since my letter was sent. 

“This camera has not been used correctly and has been positioned too far from the road then any measurement of speed cannot be considered accurate and correct to prosecute anyone and therefore all the tickets issued while the van has been positioned there need to be cancelled, which I assume will run into thousands of tickets. 

“I am pretty sure what I have uncovered is correct and that is why the police have now moved the van after receiving my letter."

Stuart added: “I remember about 10 years ago a police force down south did the same thing had the van parked on another road which meant it was positioned too far from the road they were detecting vehicles on and had to refund about £1.6 million worth of tickets."

Lancashire Constabulary were approached for comment.