IWAS recently caught on a speed camera located on a downhill stretch of Preston Old Road running alongside Witton Park, Blackburn. It was 11.30pm; the road was otherwise deserted and my speed was 36 mph. The fine was £60 plus three penalty points.

I have since talked to many people who have either been caught themselves or know someone who has and I began to realise the huge scale of the exercise.

I have now come to question whether this campaign is really about accident prevention or whether it is really a source of income for the police.

In fact, it rather looks like another stealth tax, where the Government, instead of financing the police force properly, give them licence to generate income by fleecing the motorist.

If it's not about making money, then why don't the police just deduct points rather than adding an additional fine? £60 can hardly be claimed to be an administrative cost.

No doubt, the police will say they are saving lives by enforcing the speed limit, but at 11.30pm on a deserted road, it's tempting to take a cynical view of the whole event.

I should also say that, while I appreciate the potentially dangerous effects of speed, I am struck by the hypocrisy of police cars travelling at break-neck speed along the road where I live.

If speed kills, as they say, then speed kills, no matter who is at the wheel.

JOHN MATTHEWS, Yew Tree Drive, Blackburn.