A POLICE chief who helped shape speed camera policy has told drivers to break the culture of thinking it is fine to break the limit.

Chief Superintendent David Mallaby spoke in defence of the cameras at a meeting of the Lancashire Police Authority, at the Knott Street Community Centre, in Darwen.

Proposals for a 28 per cent increase in council tax charges for police services were being discussed when residents questioned if the cash from speeding fines could be used instead.

Ch Supt Mallaby, commander for the Eastern Division, covering Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, pointed out that the Government, not the police, receive the cash, before launching into his defence.

He said: "Stealth tax? I'm not having that. The cameras save lives. If people don't want to pay the fines, they shouldn't speed. We have to get used to driving slower."

In 1998, Ch Supt Mallaby went on a fact-finding trip to research the revolutionary Victoria State road safety initiative in Australia. As a result, he proposed increases in the use of speed cameras, prosecutions for dangerous driving and random breath tests.

In 2001, the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety was launched, partly using his recommendations, and the number of speed cameras increased from 70 to 320 over three years.

Ch Supt Mallaby told the meeting that no one broke the limit in the part of Australia he visited because it was not in their culture.