The camera sites were decommissioned on 1 August when Oxfordshire County Council withdrew funding. However last week the Oxford Mail reported that speed cameras could be back by 1 April 2011 with a new organisational structure being put in place that would see Thames Valley Police taking over the cost and running of the cameras, funding it through fees from drivers sent on speed awareness courses.

The news comes as the RAC Foundation publishes a new report by Professor Richard Allsop of University College London showing that 800 more people could be killed or seriously injured each year on Britain’s roads if all the fixed and mobile speed cameras operational before the road safety grant was cut this summer were to be decommissioned. 

Commenting on the announcement about the potential return of speed cameras to Oxford roads, Julie Townsend, Brake campaigns director, said: 'This is fantastic news for communities in Oxfordshire. The bottom line is that cameras are highly effective in reducing speeding and preventing deaths and serious injuries. I just hope that other counties that have turned off all or some of their cameras will follow suit, acknowledging that the big switch off was a terrible blow to community safety.'