HOT on the heels of a Poole camera car driver being nabbed for speeding, the vehicle has been seen jumping a red light.

Poole resident Deb Simpson, who was driving behind the distinctive ‘spy car’, said: “They think they are above the law.”

She reported the matter to Borough of Poole and was less than thrilled with the response. “They are not going to do anything,” she said.

The car she was in was behind the white Borough of Poole Citroen with a video camera on the roof, which was on the lookout for parking infringements, when they came to temporary traffic lights at Sea View, Parkstone.

“The two cars in front jumped the red light and he was the third to go through,” she said. “There is no excuse.”

She added: “There is one rule for the council workers and one for the rest of us. Ed Balls (shadow chancellor) went through lights and he got a fine and three points on his licence. Why don’t they get the same?”

If the video camera was operating it would have clearly captured the law being broken, she said.

However, the reply she received from Borough of Poole said the driver had been ‘spoken to’.

Earlier this month the Daily Echo reported how a driver of the same car had been caught speeding in Banks Road, Sandbanks by the Dorset Road Safety camera car, exceeding the 30mph limit by 6mph – only six days earlier.

In relation to the latest infringement Jason Benjamin, parking services manager said: “We can confirm that the council is aware of an alleged traffic offence which occurred on January 24.

“While it is not council policy to comment on individual matters such as this, we would expect all staff to drive safely and responsibly while on council business. We have spoken to the individual concerned about this matter.”

Dorset Road Safe, which operates 15 red light camera sites across the county said: “You are breaking the law if you cross the stop line when the traffic signals are showing a red light.”

‘Dangerous’ parking places

A DORSET Road Safe camera van parked at the end of a Poole slip road was not considered to be in a safe place by a driver.

Seeing a photo posted on Facebook of the van stopped on a slip road to a busy dual-carriageway leading from Tower Park onto Dorset Way, he thought it a ‘dangerous place’.

However the safety partnership, via Dorset Police, declined to answer any questions from the Daily Echo on why it was parked there, the dangers to drivers joining the dual-carriageway and what the penalty would be if any other motorist parked at the end of a slip road.

The response from Dorset Road Safety Partnership was: “The safety camera van was on duty at an authorised location. Please submit an FIO (sic) request if you wish further detail.”

  • Residents have also complained that the van was parked in a ‘dangerous’ place on the Fleetsbridge flyover section of Dorset Way, on the asphalt at the side of the 50mph dual-carriageway.

“They seem to be parking in places that are incredibly dangerous,” said one driver who saw the van.