Thousands more speeding motorists are being caught on police cameras following the launch of pilot schemes across Britain.

The increase follows a Department of Transport initiative in eight police areas, including Cleveland, allowing the money raised from speeding fines to be ploughed back into buying and maintaining speed cameras.

The other forces are Essex, Northampton, Thames Valley, Nottingham, South Wales, Lincolnshire and Strathclyde.

Cleveland said the number of drivers caught ignoring a crackdown on speeding had more than tripled in two months. Officers handed out 8,689 fixed penalty tickets to drivers caught exceeding the speed limit.

The news coincides with the launch of digital speed cameras in Britain. The cameras, which measure the average speed of motorists between two points, are set to revolutionise speed control, police say.

The devices effectively talk to each other and monitor drivers as they pass along a section of road. If the average speed is found to be too high a picture of the registration number of the vehicle is taken.

The system was launched yesterday in Nottinghamshire.