The big idea
Nearly 200,000 motorists have been fined a total of £8m in the past year after being caught on CCTV cameras, according to a new report.
The report, from campaign group Big Brother Watch, says that more than 50 CCTV Smart cars are patrolling 31 council areas and raised the equivalent of £322,789 last year for each town hall that uses them.
The cars are used to film motorists who use bus lanes or who are judged to be driving without due care and attention.
The 25 councils that released data said they raised a total of £8,069,715 from 188,000 motorists between April 2009 and March 2010.
Dylan Sharpe, Campaign Director of Big Brother Watch, said, “The CCTVa very dangerous escalation in Britain's surveillance society.
£8 million is an eye-watering amount to take in fines in just 25 councils.
It is surely only a matter of time before more councils start using these cars. The Coalition Government must act now and prevent that from happening.”
Why does this matter?
200,000 motorists have been fined by caught on CCTV