SPEED cameras on a busy main road have drastically cut the injury toll.

Officials operating the six cameras on Calderdale Way, near Elland, say they have been remarkably effective, even though they have only been switched on since March.

The casings and warning signs had been installed many months before and drivers mistakenly thought there were cameras in there.

Steve Thornton, chairman of West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership which runs the cameras, said: "Casualties have reduced by 35% since last year.

"Fatal or very serious injuries have halved and the number of crashes has gone down from more than 18 a year to just seven in the year ending last April.

"There's been a mistaken belief among a minority of motorists intent on breaking the speed limits that it is safe to put your foot down on Elland bypass," said Mr Thornton.

"We installed cameras because crashes and serious casualties were on the rise."

He said 29 people were seriously hurt in 1998, 31 in 1999 and 34 in 2000.

He added: "By no stretch of the imagination could this road be described as safe."

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