Go online to catch yourself in the act

If you live in Wiltshire and break the speed limit, you'll be able to go online and see yourself caught in the act, starting in May.

Compuware is building a portal for the Wiltshire and Swindon Safety Camera Partnership (WSSCP) so that speeders can view the evidence and the site will also produce the grim accident statistics that will show why the camera is where it is.

David Frampton, manager for the safety camera unit, said: "We want to be as transparent as we can. There is a lot of bad feeling about speed cameras and we also want to show why they are where they are – that it isn't about raising revenue.

"And, under the Freedom of Information Act, we will have to provide people with much more information, starting next year."

When speeders receive their Notice of Intended Prosecution, they will be given a URL and a series of codes to enable them to access the pictures of their offence.

"We wanted to make sure that no one can get in that shouldn't. Only the customer will be able to see the picture. We've built in a lot of fail-safes to keep the data secure. This is the first time that the police have made information available outside their own net," said Frampton.

He explained that it had taken "quite a long time" to get all the agreements to use the various databases required for the system. "We had to make sure that we're not infringing anyone's rights," he said.

Frampton expects the system to pay for itself. Currently his office deals with 4,000 to 5,000 people a month - writing to each an average of two-and-a-half times. He also said that the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act requirements will mean that he will need an "inordinately large office" to cope with the information demands.

He also plans to start posting details of roadworks and other traffic disruptions on the site so that it can be used, in a sense, as a journey planner.

Frampton added that he hopes that the site will reduce speeding and accidents and therefore not be used much.