ENFORCEMENT of speed cameras in Nottingham will have to be reduced due to Government spending cuts.

Francis Ashton, traffic and safety manager for Nottingham City Council, said the cuts mean no new cameras will be bought, mobile patrols will be scaled down and staff will not be able to check fixed cameras and enforce fines as regularly.

It is feared this will lead to more drivers breaking the law and putting lives at risk.

Mrs Ashton said the authority would "fight to the death" to keep cameras operating as much as possible because they have been so effective at reducing accidents.

"There will be a reduction in enforcement and definitely no new ones," she said.

"We have no intention of switching off our cameras.

"We will fight to the death to keep them going. But where and how many and when is an issue."

She said there was clear evidence that cameras had helped make the roads safer.

Between 1994 and 1998, there was an annual average of 16 people killed and 306 seriously injured on the city's roads.

Between 2007 and 2009 – after Nottingham's cameras had been operating for several years – the annual average plummeted to six deaths and 155 serious injuries.

Average speed cameras, which check speeds between two points, are the most widely used in Nottingham, They work 24 hours a day but need people to review information.

With funding cuts, the time people can devote to reviewing is likely to be reduced.

Mobile patrols would also have to be scaled down.

Fixed cameras use a rota system where a limited number are moved to different housings. This helps to keep costs down. But cuts may mean they are moved less often and targeted where accidents rates are higher.

"The ultimate danger is more people will think they can get away with it and start speeding again," said Mrs Ashton.

Across England and Wales thousands of cameras are set to disappear because of cuts.

Notts County Council, which has lost £422,000 from its road safety budget this year, agreed to re-allocate a different grant of £350,000 to cover part of its costs. It is not yet known if a similar solution can be found next year.

Julie Townsend, of road safety charity Brake, said: "We are horrified that vital road safety work is grinding to a halt as a result of draconian funding cuts.

"We've made a huge amount of progress in reducing tragic, needless and costly road deaths and injuries in recent years – progress that is at great risk of being undone."