The number of speeding tickets issued in Sussex shot up by 45% in just one year - but thousands of foreign car drivers slipped through the net.

Foreign registered vehicles were caught speeding and going through red lights 2,250 times last year across the county.

But Sussex Safer Roads Partnership said there is no “practical method” of tracing them so tickets worth more than £130,000 have not been pursued.

In 2011 an average of 210 speeding tickets were issued each day.

In total 76,674 cars were caught out by fixed and mobile speeding cameras in the county - up from 52,868 the previous year.

However of those issued last year only 22,138 have been paid - worth £1,323,280.

The sharp increase in fines is due to 50% more mobile speed cameras on Sussex roads.

The decision on how often each site is monitored is based on driver behaviour analysis, including the number of collisions or average speed.

Luke Bosdet, from the AA, said: “The police are doing a specific job which to say look, someone has misbehaved and someone has been badly injured or even killed.

“We need to get the message out there to slow down.”

Neil Hopkins, from SSRP, said saving money elsewhere had allowed them to dramatically boost the number of cameras.

He said: “Our efficiency gains have allowed us to spend more than 50% extra time at the mobile camera sites.

“This has allowed us to carry out an increased number of mobile speed enforcement operations, all of which are conducted in line with our Safety Camera Criteria at locations where there is a casualty/collision history and where the average speed is significantly higher than the posted limit.

“This increased presence on our most at-risk sites has naturally resulted in a higher number of offences being detected.”

The partnership said each £60 fine is paid to the Government and if a driver opts for a speed awareness course rather than points on their licence the £85 fee is paid to the course provider and covers the running of the course.

Mr Hopkins said any surplus from running the courses is spent on road safety initiatives in Sussex.

The number of people taking the courses has also increased.

In total there were 2,250 activations on the camera network - fixed, mobile and red light cameras - from foreign registered vehicles last year.

SSRP said that represents less than 2% of the total.

Chief Inspector Natalie Moloney of roads policing at Sussex Police, said: "There is currently no practical method by which we can trace foreign registered vehicles to deliver paperwork relating to their offence. This is due to European authorities having different systems and vehicle registration procedures to those which we use in the UK. This issue is being examined at a national level and we await further guidance on pan-European cooperation from the Department for Transport."

Ellen Booth, senior campaigns officer at charity Brake, urged people to stay under the speed limit.

She said: “Speed is one of the biggest killers on UK roads and puts the lives of all road users at risk. Reducing average speeds means fewer and less serious crashes. Our message to drivers is simple: speed limits are there to protect, so stay within them at all times, and slow down to 20mph in communities. It's the responsible, compassionate way to drive, giving you time to react in an emergency.”

Mr Bosdet said the increase in total activations could be partly explained by snowy weather in 2010.

Road markings are often needed to measure speed and if these are covered it can be difficult to stand up the fine.

He said a drop of almost 2,000 tickets issued between April and May, 2011 could be due to the high price of fuel which reached a 143.04p per litre peak in May.