JUST two speeding fines have been issued for breaking Brighton’s 20mph limit since it was introduced almost six years ago.

The 20mph zones were introduced by Brighton and Hove City Council in 2013 in a bid to cut the number of accidents on the city's streets.

But figures released by Sussex Police under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that only one driver has been issued with a fixed penalty notice for breaking the 20mph limit.

The Argus has since been contacted by Sussex Police, who said that their FOI response was incorrect and that two people had in fact received fixed penalty notices in the 20mph zones.

The original figures were obtained by Brighton resident Paul Hutchings, who shared the written response on social media.

The Sussex Police response states: "I can confirm that one fixed penalty notice has been issued for exceeding the 20mph speed, limit in Brighton."

The response said that the vehicle was a car and was stopped in June last year.

Mr Hutchings posted on Facebook: "The 20mph limits are routinely flouted and, according to a Sussex Police FOI request, just one person has been fined for breaking them since they were introduced nearly six years ago.

"That's farcical. These limits will make our city safer and improve our quality of life.

"If drivers can't police themselves we need law enforcement to do the job for them."

Steve Percy, who sits on the city’s transport partnership, said: “You are never going to enforce a 20mph zone unless you have cameras on every street, you can’t deal with speeding unless you can record someone’s speed.

“If there were cameras then nobody would do it, but that isn’t financially viable and I wouldn’t like to see more cameras in the city.”

Mr Percy questioned the effectiveness of the speed limit.

He said: “I don’t think that putting in the 20mph speed limit zones did what the council wanted to happen.

“It didn’t make people stick to 20mph and it never will.”

He also said he believed the limit should be stated more clearly in some areas.

Mr Percy said: “I would like the council to update the signage on the roads because I think many people don’t realise it’s there.”

Sussex Police responded to the figure.

A spokesman said: "The initiative was set up as a traffic calming measure and is designed to be self-enforcing, and the number of fixed penalty notices issued – two since its launch in 2013 – suggests that it is working to some effect. 

"Of course we cannot be everywhere all the time, and we would encourage anyone who witnesses speeding or antisocial driving to report it via Operation Crackdown.

"Our policing teams across Sussex work tirelessly to meet the challenges they face every day.

"We are prioritising what we do, ensuring that we are responding in the right way to address incidents which have the greatest threat, harm and risk attached."

Brighton and Hove City Council also commented on the information.

A spokesman said: "“A government study which evaluated the impact of the 20mph speed limit showed that an area of Brighton where it has been enforced has seen a significant reduction in the number of collisions and casualties.

"The 20mph is now the legal speed limit on most roads in central Brighton & Hove and many residential roads across the city, making the city a safer and better place to live in.”