SPEED camera bosses were today urged to axe almost half of East Lancashire's fixed sites amid claims they were installed against Government guidelines.

MPs, campaigners and motorists made the call after police figures revealed there had not been the required number of deaths or serious accidents at 53 of the area's 117 camera locations.

They claimed that the statistics for the three years before each camera was installed - which show either one or no deaths or serious accidents - prove they are being used as money-making machines to exploit motorists.

A spokesman for the partnership, a multi-agency group made up of councils, police and health bodies, claimed every camera would stand up to scrutiny and that none would be removed.

But Transport Secretary Alastair Darling is to write to the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety and ask it to justify the need for cameras at the controversial locations.

The Partnership spokesman added that it had interpreted the Government's rules in a way that allowed the use of minor crashes to justify a fixed site.

But in future, he said, the Government's guidelines would be followed more stringently as he believed they were now being imposed more rigorously.

Department of Transport rules outline eight criteria for installing speed cameras.

Mr Darling saidthe most crucial of these was that there must have been four deaths or serious accidents in the 1,500-metre vicinity in the previous three calendar years.

In some circumstances, cameras can be installed if there was a fear there could be a serious accident, he added.

The Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety cuts the 1,500 metres vicinity to 500 metres and therefore cuts the number of deaths and serious accidents necessary to two. Nevertheless, 53 cameras in East Lancashire are on spots where there has been either one or no deaths or serious accidents in the past three years.

These include the notorious camera in Whalley Road, Great Harwood, which has had no deaths or serious accidents, but 14 minor crashes.

Others include one on Whitebirk Drive, Blackburn, where there has been no serious crashes or deaths and only one minor accident.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said: "Those 53 cameras should be removed immediately. Speed cameras should be there to protect lives, but people are getting infuriated with them."

A spokesman for the Association of British Drivers said: "They have been very strict in Lancashire about where they install speed cameras, but the golden rule is the number of fatal or serious collisions."

Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, said: "If they aren't in dangerous places they should moved or taken down."

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope said he had slowed down since being caught by a camera, but added: "We do seem to have more speed cameras in East Lancashire . I am worried that a lot of motorists may feel let down in the bond of trust with the police."

Former policeman Adrian Shurmer, from Great Harwood, who now runs Driver Awareness Ltd, giving advice to companies, said: "With my police contacts, it is no secret to me that from the beginning it has been exploitation of the general public. "

A spokesman for Mr Darling said: "Mr Darling has written to the partnership to ask them to justify all their speed cameras "

In Lancashire in 2002 128,000 speeding fines were handed out, bringing in £7.6 million in fines, which the partnership must spend on more road safety initiatives or hand to the government.