Police admit hiding speed cameras to catch out speeding motorists

The operation is part of a clampdown on speeding bikers

(Loop Images/UIG via Getty Images)

Police have admitted to hiding cameras in farm vehicles despite government advice that says vehicles with mobile speed cameras should be “clearly identifiable as an enforcement vehicle”.

Humberside Police said it hid officers with speed cameras in tractors and horseboxes in an attempt to catch speeding bikers on a rural road that had been the site of a high number of casualties.

A picture, captured by a member of the public, appears to show a policeman sat with a mounted speed camera in a John Deere tractor near Sledmere, East Yorkshire.

The man, who did not want to be named, told the Daily Mail he took the photos of the officer between Bridlington and York at 10.20am on Sunday.

He said: “There had been rumours there was a tractor being used, but I couldn't believe it when I saw the horsebox the first week and then the tractor too.

“As I walked towards the tractor and past it I heard some bikes coming and sure enough they were stopped afterwards.

“Looking at the tractor I was immediately suspicious as the tyres don't have a scratch or a bit of mud on them.”

A police spokesperson said in a statement: “At the moment Humberside Police are conducting Operation Kansas in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

“This operation runs alongside the well-established and much publicised Operation Achilles. It is concerned with ‘high-end’ speeding offenders in East Riding, deploying speed cameras, which are located in a variety of stationary vehicles.

“Vehicles which are detected travelling at very high speeds are stopped further along the road and drivers/riders are spoken to and dealt with at the roadside.

“Although the majority of offenders are motorcycles, a number of cars are also dealt with on this operation. We regularly record speeds in the high 90s and over 100 mph, these being on country roads where the national speed limit of 60 mph is in force.'

They went on to say: “This operation is aimed at the small percentage of riders/drivers, who insist on driving at dangerously high speeds on our country roads, not only endangering themselves, but other innocent road users.”