Minister Confirms Technical Glitch in Speed Cameras Affecting Strategic Roads

Transport Minister Simon Lightwood has announced a technical issue affecting some variable speed cameras on England’s motorways and major A-roads.

The problem, which has existed for several years, caused a small number of drivers to be wrongly detected as speeding or not given enough time to adjust to changing limits.

Mr Lightwood said the anomaly was first flagged by National Highways in September 2025 following a challenge to a speeding ticket on the M5. By October, the agency identified it as a national issue linked to upgrades made under the previous government.

“National Highways confirms this anomaly has occurred around 2,650 times since 2021,” Mr Lightwood said. “To put this in context, there were roughly six million camera activations on these roads over the same period.”

The Department for Transport has confirmed that anyone affected will receive refunds for fines, and any points wrongly applied to licences will be removed. Police forces are prioritising serious cases and interim measures, including increased patrols, are being deployed while a Home Office-approved solution is implemented.

National Highways is also reviewing data back to 2019 to ensure all impacted drivers are identified. Following the discovery of the issue, the transfer of speed data to police forces was paused, and ongoing prosecutions have been cancelled. Tens of thousands of speed awareness courses and historic penalty notices are being withdrawn as a precaution.

Mr Lightwood emphasised that road safety remains a priority and confirmed that an independent investigation will be conducted to ensure lessons are learned from the glitch.