Motorists have paid out £3 million in speeding fines in Sussex in just one year, new figures reveal.

Almost a third of the cash has gone straight to the Treasury in what critics described as a stealth tax on drivers.

Sussex Safety Camera Partnership confirmed it made £1,594,920 in fines in the first half-year since it was set up in October 2002 and expects the figure to be the same for the last six months.

It estimates more than 53,160 speeding fines have been handed out in the past year.

The partnership spent just £912,999 in the half-year on road safety in Sussex, with £681,921 being handed to the Government.

Sussex has seen an explosion in the number of cameras.

The first was installed in April 1995 at Broadwater Road in Worthing and there are now 28 across the two counties, with more due this year. The latest was installed in November on the A24 at Dial Post.

The safety partnership said there had been a 40 per cent drop in serious and fatal accidents at camera sites.