A MOTORIST caught by one of East Lancashire's 53 speed cameras that may have been installed against Government guidelines today demanded his £60 fine back.

James Clegg, of Lyndon Avenue, Great Harwood, has also asked for the penalty points to be struck off his driving licence, unless the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety ccan justify the fixed site's existence in Whalley Road near his home.

Mr Clegg, 82, has lived just around the corner from where the camera is sited for 49 years.

In November 2002, he was fined £60 and given three penalty points on his licence, which had been clean for 64 years, for doing 36mph past the camera.

Mr Clegg said he had no idea the limit had changed and added: "The most damaging thing was the three penalty points which put my insurance up by £50 a year, and will do so for five years.

"I would like my points revoked and my money back because they have not followed the guidelines.

"I feel those in charge of speed cameras have a moral obligation to refund at least the three points.

"Unless they do that the general public will lose all respect for law and order."

In yesterday's Lancashire Evening Telegraph, it was revealed that 53 of the area's 117 speed cameras may have been installed in locations where there had not been the required numbers of deaths or serious injuries.

Transport Secretary Alastair Darling has written to the partnership, reminding it that there must have been four deaths or serious accidents in a 1,500 metre vicinity in the previous three calendar years to erect a speed camera.

He has also asked the multi-agency group, made up of councils, police and health bodies, to justify the need for the cameras at the controversial locations.

The partnership said it had interpreted the Government's rules for speed cameras in a way that allowed the use of minor crashes to justify a fixed site.

A partnership spokesman pledged that the full criteria would be used for any new sites as he said the government was demanding a more stringent approach. But he vowed that none of the controversial 53 sites would be removed.

The Whalley Road camera identified is one of the most controversial in East Lancashire.

It was installed in October 2002 and caught out many motorists as it coincided with a 10mph reduction in the speed limit to 30mph.

But yesterday it was revealed no deaths or serious accidents had occurred in the vicinity in the previous three calendar years to its installation.

The partnership said it had installed it because there had been 14 minor crashes there.