24,000 drivers wrongly convicted for speeding in Chideock could have fines repaid (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

24,000 drivers wrongly convicted for speeding in Chideock could have fines repaid

10:32am Thursday 25th June 2009

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MORE than 24,000 drivers wrongfully convicted for speeding through Chideock could have their fines repaid and penalty points reinstated.

It is estimated that it could cost the authorities £1.5 million to reimburse all the affected motorists.

The development comes after a Government review of an inadequately-worded traffic regulation order that was supposed to limit drivers to 30mph on the main road through the village.

The review followed a test case, held at Dorchester Crown Court, where Cornish lorry driver Alan Dawe won an appeal against his conviction for ‘speeding’ through Chideock in October, 2008, paving the way for the original traffic order to be officially reviewed.

It was found that the order referred to a 30mph limit for Seatown Road when the correct name should have been Duck Street.

It was ruled that the incorrect wording left the order invalid, meaning anyone convicted for ‘speeding’ through the village prior to 2007 could have their punishment overturned.

A spokesman for Dorset Safety Camera Partnership said it has now secured an agreement with the Treasury and the Department of Transport to begin reviewing individual cases with a view to refunding fixed penalty payments and revoking penalty points from drivers’ licences, if they were still valid.

The spokesman said the partnership would also begin reviewing cases in which drivers lost their licences, which in some cases left people unable to continue working and spending hundreds of pounds on other forms of transport.

The spokesman said the new review agreement affects 24,899 wrongfully convicted motorists, adding: “The organisations that make up the Safety Camera Partnership will be working together to cover these costs.

“We don’t know how many of these people will make a claim for a refund so it’s difficult to say what the final amount the partnership will pay out will be.

“We’re expecting that some people won’t want to claim it because they admitted driving in excess of 30mph through a village.” Among those asking for their money back is Bridport construction worker Peter Richardson.

He was fined £40 and given three penalty points on his licence for speeding through Chideock in 1999.

Mr Richardson, 56, said he was driving his diesel Land Rover pulling a trailer full of logs when he was clocked by the camera.

He reckons he was doing just over 30mph.“I wasn’t racing,” he says.

Now he wants his £40 returned and any details of the conviction removed from the records.

Her says he has no problem about making the claim even though he was over the speed limit because the camera was being operated illegally.

“If the points had totted up to a disqualification I would have lost my licence and my livelihood,” he said.

l Dorset Safety Camera Partnership constitutes a partnership between the county council, Dorset Police, NHS South West, the Highways Agency, the courts and the Crown Prosecution Service among other bodies. It has set up a dedicated Chideock information line on 01305 227567 while the number for general enquiries is 01305 227600.

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