Speed cameras in Sussex saved the taxpayer £6 million, earned £2.3 million in fines and prevented three deaths last year.

The Sussex Safety Camera Partnership said its cameras had led to a significant drop in speeds and prevented an estimated 33 accidents that would have caused serious injury or death.

One in ten of those accidents would have proved fatal.

Half of all motorists drove above the speed limit before traps were installed but this had now fallen to 32 per cent.

Serious injury crashes and deaths were reduced by 61 per cent at fixed camera sites in Sussex and by 25 per cent at mobile sites.

Each fatal accident costs £1 million to deal with and the money saved by preventing smashes had been worked out at £6 million.

The cameras raised £1,170,660 in fines during the first six months of the partnership. Organisers have not yet audited income from the second half of the year but believe it would be about the same amount.

Project manager Ken Seymour said: "This scheme is not just about finance and statistics but a genuine desire of those involved to reduce collisions and casualties.

"The motor vehicle can be a lethal weapon in the hands of an inattentive driver."

The partnership was set up in October 2002 to take over the running of cameras and increase the number of sites.

Brighton and Hove City Council, West and East Sussex county councils, Sussex Police and the Highways Agency are members.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, environment chairwoman at Brighton and Hove City Council, said: "These results confirm slower speeds reduce the number and severity of crashes.

"By continuing to encourage speed limit compliance at camera sites we anticipate this downward trend will continue.

"There is more to do as we are still seeing unacceptably high numbers of crashes and casualties on all our roads."

Superintendent Nick Wilk-inson, head of road policing at Sussex Police, said: "Using safety cameras to enforce speed limits means road policing officers can be freed up. They can then concentrate on other areas of road crime, including dangerous driving and car theft.

"An unacceptable number of people die or are seriously injured on our roads each year.

"We are determined to do all we can to spare these people and their families from tragedy."

Money raised from fines is put back into cameras and campaigns, with some going to the Treasury.

There are 43 fixed cameras across the county, including two which were being switched on today.

Only one does not comply with Government guidance that traps can only be placed at accident blackspots.

It has been set up to slow motorists heading towards roadworks on the A24 from Findon to Washington in West Sussex to protect workmen.

It is legal because 15 per cent of cameras are allowed at locations where there have been fewer than four deaths in the previous three years.

A review can be seen at www.sussexsafetycameras.gov.uk