Speed camera fines in Scotland have jumped 330 percent from £2.3 million to £7.6 million (US $4.4 million to $14.7 million) in the space of just twelve months.

Despite the record income, road deaths in Scotland have increased by seven percent. Paul Smith, founder of Safe Speed, said: "Vehicle safety is improving, post crash medical care is improving and roads are being improved. These improvements far outweigh the growth in traffic and road deaths should be falling. The fact that they are rising is a policy failure of epic proportions."

Scotland has 180 fixed cameras and 324 mobile units. Twenty more are expected before the end of the year.

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Andrew Wilkie, director of the Scottish Safety Camera Programme, yesterday defended the schemes, insisting the rise in fixed penalty revenue was mainly due to new camera partnerships being set up across Scotland. He said: "Any increase in the revenue by partnership area can be attributed to an increase in enforcement activity but should not be attributed directly to an increase in the number of new cameras.