AN accident blackspot seems set to get speed cameras.

A stretch of Huddersfield Road in Mirfield now has one of the worst accident tolls in West Yorkshire.

A formal application has been made to install six cameras on the A644, between the junction with the A62 Leeds Road at Cooper Bridge and Park Road, Ravensthorpe.

The application has been made by the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership, which is made up of the five major councils in the county, including Kirklees.

The Mirfield site is one of 22 being put forward to have cameras installed from next April.

Partnership spokesman Philip Gwynne said: "Our top priority is Huddersfield Road at Mirfield, where six cameras will be installed.

"This is a bid to reduce the appalling average of seven casualties a month that have made this route one of the worst crash zones in West Yorkshire."

Mr Gwynne said mobile speed cameras in the back of a van had been operating in the area since late spring.

He added: "Mobile safety patrols have been operating there since May to help get motorists into the habit of observing speed limits."

They sparked controversy recently when one was photographed parking on the pavement to catch speeding motorists.

Drivers accused the police of hypocrisy for breaking the law by parking on the pavement to catch speeders.

But the partnership said it was the safest place to park and the van was not causing an obstruction.

The partnership is now formally applying to the Government to put up cameras at 22 sites it has earmarked as problem roads.

The Government sets certain criteria for the number of deaths or serious injuries on a stretch of road before it will allow speed cameras to be installed.

Fines from the cameras go to the Government - but the cash then goes back to councils to put up new cameras.

"In effect, people caught speeding are paying for new cameras," said Mr Gwynne.

The other sites earmarked for new cameras include Hightown Road in Cleckheaton, between Westgate and Halifax Road.

Since 1998, there have been 23 accidents on this stretch of road which have led to 14 deaths or serious injuries.

Other sites earmarked for cameras include Halifax Road in Keighley, Thornton Road in Bradford and several other roads in the Bradford and Leeds areas.

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