ON March 5, I was travelling to work on a bright, sunny day. The traffic was minimal; visibility was excellent.

I was travelling uphill, on a dual carriageway, when -- you guessed it: I was detected driving in excess of the 30mph speed limit by a police officer hiding in the back of an unmarked van.

My crime? Driving at 36mph.

Approximately a week later, by post, I received the 'Conditional offer of a Fixed Penalty' -- a £60 fine and three penalty points on my licence.

I have never before, in 36 years, been guilty of any speeding offence. Would any mitigating circumstances be taken into consideration? No chance. Easy money for the Lancashire Constabulary.

Well, I defy any car driver in the country to admit that they never drive in excess of the speed limit, even if by only a few miles per hour. Be warned, however, that in Lancashire, I am now reliably informed by someone working in the Lancashire Fixed Penalty Office in Blackburn, that drivers are now being penalised for driving at 33mph in a 30mph zone.

The British motorist has long bemoaned the fact that he is penalised, through car tax, car insurance and petrol costs, more heavily than other drivers throughout Europe. Now, the Lancashire Constabulary has joined the 'easy money' brigade.

Will this money be targeted at fighting the real criminals who currently blight all our lives? of course not! It will go into providing more cameras, for more police officers to hide in vans, or around corners, pointing their expensive equipment at soft-target drivers, instead of dealing with the 'real' criminals. But then this is probably too difficult a job in comparison to catching errant drivers.

If the police should wonder why the public now view them with increasingly less respect, perhaps they should look at what it is that is so alienating them from the public. Without the support of the public their job will become untenable.

NOEL EKE, Pickering Fold, Blackburn.