MOTORISTS who refuse to slow down could be caught out by 48 new speed cameras across Lancashire.

Ten of the cameras will be turned on within the next two weeks on roads in Preston and South Ribble at hotspots with a history of bad crashes and speeding.

The cameras, launched by the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety, bring the total number in the county to 117. There are plans to install 320 by the end of 2004.

But the move has received a mixed reaction from residents and motorists and the Association of British Drivers is campaigning to amend the rules on where speed cameras are sited.

Linda Sanderson, from the partnership, said: "Since traffic cameras were introduced in Lancashire the number of accidents on roads with speed cameras has been cut by 34 per cent. There has been a 63 per cent reduction in accidents resulting in death or serious injury."

She said that the majority of crashes occur on roads with a speed limit of 30mph or less and at 35mph people are twice as likely to kill someone than they are at 30mph.

But Linda overturned the myth that money from the camera fines goes straight into the police coffers. She said: "The money goes to the Lord Chancellor's office and the use of fixed cameras actually frees up the time of of police officers to carry out their duties."

Preston's new cameras are at: Ringway, near Market Street West; London Road, near Salmon Street; two in Blackpool Road, near Romford Road and near Jemmet Street; two in Ribbleton Avenue, near Moorfield Road and near Chatburn Road; Fishergate Hill near County Hall; Garstang Road, near Whittingham Lane, Broughton.

The cameras in South Ribble are in Penwortham Brow, in Liverpool Road, Penwortham, and in Fox Lane, near Lowerhouse Road, Leyland.