Thirteen is certainly the unlucky number for one driver who was caught speeding 13 times by the same camera.

He was just one of almost 13,000 speeding motorists caught out during two years of roadworks on Sussex’s busiest road.

In the two years of roadworks between Warninglid and Handcross on the A23, 12,771 offenders were caught exceeding the temporary 40mph speed limit including some travelling at more than double the reduced limit.

One driver of a company car racked up 13 tickets in less than a month and would have been banned from driving as a result.

Fifteen notices of intent to prosecute were issued to the same company vehicle – on the other two occasions the car was driven by a colleague.

Sussex Safer Roads Partnership said that the offences must have happened in a very short time period either within the 14 days it takes to issue a speeding notice or the 28 days within which an employer has to respond.

So far 3,246 motorists have coughed up and paid the £100 fine and taken three penalty points on their licence while a further 2,928 have attended speed awareness courses.

More than 1,300 more serious offenders caught travelling at more than 65 mph have been taken to court or are currently being processed.

One driver managed to escape punishment despite travelling at an average 97 mph through the two and a half mile section when law enforcers were unable to trace their car but another driver caught travelling at 83 mph will have their day in court.

Almost twice as many speeders were detected travelling northbound than southbound through the works even though this section has the steeper incline.

Most motorists caught travelling at between 46mph and 53mph were offered a speed awareness course, while drivers caught travelling between 54mph and 65mph were given a fine and penalty points with the opportunity to challenge the matter in court.

It appears that motorists took some time to adjust to the average speed cameras which were being used by Sussex Safer Roads Partnership for the first time in the county with half of all offenders caught in the first three months of the roadworks. The £79 million project to increase the section of road from two to three lanes was completed at the start of the month following one million man hours of work.

Phil Henty, manager Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, said: “Most drivers reacted to the reduced speed limit in a positive way.

“On average 65,000 drivers passed through the road-works each day and the majority understood the need to reduce the speed limit. “The additional journey times were in reality very small and congestion resulting from crashes and other incidents were also relatively low.”