While speed cameras seem to be taking root all over our county, there appears to be a "super-speed camera" on the horizon which will be able to take pictures of motorists from just about every angle possible.

It can also store thousands of images and is very low maintenance.

The authorities, however, continue to assure us these speed cameras have been set up only for the safety of road users. They surely belittle us if they think we are so gullible as to believe them.

It is true that, in most cases, they are very visible and there are signs warning motorists of the cameras.

Nevertheless, I often wonder about the camera on the coast road which is situated where motorists should be starting to slow down for the Ovingdean roundabout.

I know there have been serious accidents there but surely the camera would be better sited further back along the road?

The number of vehicles which travel in excess of 60mph there would surely warrant such a move.

Travelling at high speed seems more dangerous to me than motorists who are already slowing down.

The camera at Telscombe Cliffs is also badly sited.

Again, I know there have been accidents in the vicinity but, for half the day, traffic in the queue there is lucky if it achieves ten mph.

So these two cameras have been sited for our safety, have they?

Even if we accept that, what can be the justification for the hand-held camera which appears at regular intervals close to a house wall at the top of Saltdean Hill, just east of Rottingdean Heights,?

It is certainly nothing to do with road safety so it must be there entirely for revenue purposes.

From the top of Rottingdean Heights, the view for a motorist is superb. If the weather is clear, you can see right down through Saltdean and up to the Telscombe Top.

It would be quite safe to drive at 40mph on this stretch of road as there are very few domestic properties. The east side of Longridge Avenue is deemed safe for 40mph and there are several domestic properties there.

These come under different councils, which may account for the disparity, but for the life of me I cannot understand the speed limits along this part of the coast road unless it is to raise money from speeding fines.

The motorist is the easiest target in the world for authorities to extract more and more money from, what with tax, petrol and now the speed-camera gang.

Dick Turpin's highway robberies were the acts of a saint in comparison to the financial attack on motorists which seems to gather more speed as each year elapses.

One thing is certain - the authorities, however they try to explain it, are gently robbing us.

-David Rowland, Telscombe Cliffs