A DISGRUNTLED motorist was flashed by an infamous speed camera after being distracted by signs pasted onto it by anti-camera campaigners.
Driver Robert Denton says Poole’s Holes Bay Road speed on green camera, which is set to rake in more than £1 million in its first year, had makeshift signs emblazoned on it.
One notice read “Greed On Green”. The other declared “£3,600 A Day”, in reference to the cash raised for Dorset Safety Camera Partnership.
Ian Belchamber, of campaign website Dorset Speed, who is looking to mount a legal challenge at the site, admitted pasting the signs on the cameras this week.
He said: “I posted these signs as an additional warning to drivers about what these money-grabbing cameras are about.
Mr Denton, 62, of Dorchester, believes it was the confusion caused by the handmade signs that caught him out.
Mr Denton, said: “As I came past Asda on Tuesday evening I saw these signs, stuck two-thirds of the way up the pole.
“I looked at them, didn’t focus on the lights or my speed as I went by and the cameras flashed me.
“Considering the amount of times I’ve been through them before it was really annoying.
“When I got home I phoned police control and said I thought the pasted signs were a distraction and could cause an accident.
“However, I do support the campaign to get rid of these cameras.”
Earlier this month the Daily Echo reported the single “speed on green” southbound camera had caught 7,000 motorists breaking the 30mph limit in four months, earning a staggering £432,000.
Mr Belchamber said his campaign was on hold while he waited for details of the community concerns that led to the installation of the cameras to be supplied to him.
Dorset Police confirmed they removed the signs after receiving a call.
