A POLICE watchdog has officially asked the Government to tighten the rules on speeding after a senior officer escaped a ticket.

Cleveland Police Authority is urging Westminster to make it a legal requirement that vehicle owners tell police officers who was driving at the time of an alleged speeding offence.

It also wants cases of policemen seeking to have speed tickets withdrawn to be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for assessment.

The demands, made in a letter which is to be delivered to the Home Office tomorrow, are the latest twist in a row involving Middlesbrough Crime Manager, Detective Superintendent Adrian Roberts.

His car was caught on camera travelling at 35 mph through a 30 mph zone on Teesside where cameras have been installed on roads with an accident record. He claimed he could not remember who was driving his car at the time and a brother officer let him off, triggering a public furore.

Coun Ken Walker, chairman of the Cleveland Police Authority, said yesterday: "From the first moment the incident involving the withdrawal of the ticket served on a senior officer came to light, I and my authority colleagues have made clear our views in no uncertain terms - and at our recent meeting we deplored a process which could allow such a bad decision to be made.

"However, in the light of our serious concern over this incident - a concern widely shared by the public - we wanted to act urgently on the issues it has raised."

The authority wants speed cameras to take photographs of the front of vehicles rather than the rear, so that a driver's face is on camera; clear guidelines for members of the emergency services who receive penalty points; and clear information to the public on circumstances in which a ticket can be withdrawn and how to make the appropriate representations.