A driver is caught speeding somewhere in Sussex every ten minutes, The Argus can reveal.

A staggering 51,121 motorists were issued with Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIPs) between January and December last year.

The figures from a Freedom of Information request to Sussex Police showthat daily more than 140 drivers were given NIPs for speeding and either summonsed to court, given points on their licence or ordered to pay a fine.

Of the 51,121 people who were given NIPs, 6,383 drivers attended speed awareness courses.


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Neil Hopkins, of the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, urged speeding drivers to slow down, as “lower speeds, especially on busy roads, will give motorists time to react to any developing situations”.

He said: “Excessive (over the posted limit) or inappropriate (too fast for local road conditions) speed is a factor in too many collisions “While the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) works to educate drivers about inappropriate speeds, there are times when enforcement is necessary to curb dangerous or excessive speeds for the benefit of all road users.

“There is a map of fixed, mobile and red light enforcement camera locations on the SSRP's website along with information about the number of offences, collisions and average speeds around each fixed enforcement site.

“This helps Sussex residents to understand the reasoning for each enforcement site, and why enforcement is necessary to continually improve safety in those areas. We enforce the speed limits across Sussex fairly, visiting each site on a regular basis to ensure that all of our local communities are protected from the actions of those who think that it's acceptable to travel excessively quickly along our road network throughout the year.”

He added: “With reference to the average of 140 drivers per day detected speeding in Sussex, you'll appreciate how small that number is in comparison to the vast number of journeys made in Sussex each day.

“The A23 alone carries around 65,000 journeys each day, so contextually, 140 drivers being detected is a minuscule proportion of the total vehicle journeys across the county.”

In 2012 Sussex Police clocked what was then Britain’s fastest speeder.

The motorcyclist was spotted by police riding at 152mph near Arundel, prompting critics to name the A27 one of Britain’s worst roads for speeding.