PERMANENT average speed cameras will be installed on the A338 Spur Road this week.

Six average speed cameras will be put up to support the new 50 mile per hour speed limit, which came into effect in August 2018.

They will be the first permanent average speed cameras in Dorset.

The scheme is likely to be viewed publicly as a cash cow. In October last year, more than 500 motorists were fined for speeding in the roadworks area of the A338 in just two days.

Three of the new cameras will be positioned on the southbound carriageway between Blackwater Junction and Cooper Dean Roundabout.

There will also be three cameras in the northbound carriageway. No average speed cameras will be installed from Cooper Dean, although motorists are known to drive at speed after getting through the roadworks.

Councillor Daryl Turner, Dorset council’s cabinet member for the natural and built environment, said: “These cameras will help make the Blackwater slip roads safer and easier to use by regulating the speed of traffic through the area.

“By travelling at a consistent speed, drivers will also be helping to improve the flow of traffic as well as reducing emissions.”

Two cameras will be installed in the southbound carriageway on Monday and Tuesday next week.

There will be overnight closures in one lane of the northbound carriageway between Cooper Dean and Blackwater on Wednesday, January 30 and Thursday, January 31. The closures will be in place between 8pm and 6am both days.

Gary Powell, who is responsible for the A338 improvements, said: “We welcome the idea that the Bournemouth Spur Road will be the first road in Dorset to have such cameras. We look forward to seeing the benefits these permanent average speed cameras will bring.”

It will take two to three weeks for the cameras to be tested before they become operational.

The cameras will initially be set to enforce the temporary 40mph speed limit in force during the current roadworks. They will be managed by Dorset Police.

A spokesperson from the force said: “Hopefully this will be the first of further similar systems to be introduced that will assist in road safety and to contribute to a reduction of the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads in Dorset.”

Bournemouth council installed the new 50mph speed limits without informing motorists last summer.

The day after the limits were suddenly changed, officials said: "This permanent speed reduction from 70mph to 50mph is to help make it safer and easier to enter and exit the A338 at Blackwater junction."