LASER technology is the latest hi-tech tool in Wiltshire Police's fight against speeding motorists.

The Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership has four mobile camera units, fitted with infrared lasers and costing £30,000 each, which patrol designated stretches of roads.

Officers code in their personal log number and set the speed threshold for the road. Footage is recorded onto a standard VHS system, which logs the speed and model of every passing car. Officers use a camera fitted with a telephoto lens and video screen to pinpoint targets.

Speeding motorists are recorded on a printout before being double-checked by staff back at unit headquarters in Chippenham.

Details are checked with the Police National Computer before being processed. Drivers reaching illegal speeds within a set threshold are issued Conditional Offer Fixed Penalty tickets. Motorists clocking up excessive speeds will have their details passed on to a separate office for prosecution notices to be issued.

FACTFILE

From January 2000 to July 2003, 140 people were killed on Wiltshire's roads, with 1,203 seriously injured and 8,917 suffering minor injuries.

From April to June 2002 victims of road crash injuries in Wiltshire occupied 764 hospital beds.

The Partnership aims to reduce road deaths and serious injuries by 40 per cent and child deaths on the roads by 50 per cent by 2010.

Education, engineering and enforcement make up the Partnership's ethos for tackling speeding motorists.

Driver error causes 90 per cent of collisions, with an overall 1mph increase in speed leading to a 19 per cent increase in crashes.