Wanted drivers were caught on camera using Sussex’s roads more than six million times last year.

Police cameras snapped the images of a vehicle of someone they wanted to speak to in the county once every five seconds on average.

The recordings came as part of 233 million vehicle number plates checked by Sussex’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems in 2008 - a five-fold increase on the 44,500,000 checked a year earlier.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the more than 6,000,000 hits last year were for vehicles being driven without tax or insurance or because they were linked to people wanted on suspicion of crimes.

Sussex Police said all the pictures recorded were automatically encrypted, numbered and then stored on secure and encrypted computer databases.

Digital images are captured through using the ANPR cameras located either in mobile units or at fixed sites such as on motorway bridges.

The system is able to cross-reference the data against the Police National Computer and the DVLA database and highlights vehicles of interest to police forces so officers can track them.

Acting Chief Inspector Steve Grace, of Sussex Police's road policing unit, said: “ANPR is becoming a very valuable tool for us in fighting crime and identifying criminals on the roads.”

But Charles Hendry, the Conservative MP for Wealden, said a balance must be struck between what is necessary for the police to gain information on potential criminals and the rights of ordinary citizens.

He said: “I know that the police are using this technology to help them track potential criminals but I find these figures staggering for a county the size of Sussex.

“It is a widespread method used much more than any of us realised.

“My concern is that there needs to be a balance between what is necessary for the police and the rights of the individual to go about their everyday business without being snooped upon.”