THE most contentious speed camera in Dorset is, unquestionably, Poole’s Holes Bay camera, which generated £1 million a year in speeding fines.

News of this camera’s toll, highlighted in the Daily Echo last year, prompted a wave of fury by motorists from across the UK.

The speed on green device was even dubbed greed on green by angry campaigners.

Answering the accusation that this camera is simply a revenue earning device, Pat Garrett said: “What we have tried to do very hard at Holes Bay is to publicise the speed limit through that junction is 30mph.

“There are numerous reasons why this speed limit is in place – you have housing, a multi-junction, Asda and you are going into town which is a 30mph limit.

“The signage for the site is very good.

“I understand why the site gets the attention it does, but we are trying to look at the whole of Dorset.”

Mr Garrett says the number of drivers caught speeding through the Holes Bay junction is only 0.25% but it is the volume of traffic at the junction that makes the totals high.

“But I would say one in 400 people speeding at that site is still one in 400 people too many,” he added.

“Our job and our aim is purely to reduce the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on Dorset’s roads.

“The one thing I would ask of everybody who speeds through this junction is, ‘why do you think you can do more than 30mph at this junction? Why is it that Dorset Road safe is wrong and you are right?’ “I understand that people make mistakes, but the site has been 30mph for some considerable time. So whose fault is it?

“We said from the beginning that this was a community concern site.

“It does not have a casualty history.

“But what has happened before is we’ve been accused of not responding until three people have died.

“So in this case we’ve looked at a junction where there is considerable excess speed and we’ve put something in place in conjunction with our partners.”