ANOTHER 100 speed cameras will be introduced across Lancashire within the next month.

The announcement has brought conflicting responses from road safety organisations who say they are necessary to prevent accidents caused by speeding and motoring organisations and road users who believe they are merely another ploy to generate cash from fines.

Bosses at the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety revealed that would be on top of the extra 50 installed across the county earlier this year.

There will now be 230 cameras in place across Lancashire by the end of September. That total will rise to around 500 by the end of 2004, when the three-year road safety project comes to an end.

Details of the locations of the cameras will be revealed next week.

The partnership anticipates £20million will have been raised through £60 fines by then, which will mainly be spent on more cameras and publicity blitzes.

But Ian Bell, the man leading the multi-agency partnership, today denied claims by a motoring magazine survey that more cameras were being-sited on low risk accident roads than on established danger spots.

Autocar magazine said their research showed that cameras were not being used to help save lives.

But Mr Bell said: "In Lancashire, we are placing cameras at places which have a history of accidents and a high number of injuries. We have to prove to the Government that speed is a factor in the accidents and that a speed camera could reduce accident risks.

"It may be that other areas simply choose sites which are known for speeding, but we don't do that.

"Each site is carefully chosen, but some blackspots are not suitable for traffic cameras because they may be on a bend or there may not be enough space in the verge or on the pavement for one."

The Autocar survey stated that 33 per cent more cameras had been positioned on the UK's 50 safest roads than on the 50 most dangerous stretches.

It said just 18 cameras monitor more than 500 miles of the most hazardous roads, compared to 24 on the 50 safest.

Lancashire's only road in the top 10, the A682 through the Ribble Valley and Pendle, has two cameras along its route.