THEY are the bane of many people's lives but a boon for others.

And now it seems the trend for speed cameras has taken a bizarre new twist.

A prankster has erected a fake camera on a country lane in Lepton - and it seems to be working!

Local residents say the fake camera, accompanied by markings on the road, have caused drivers to slow down.

But no-one is owning up to erecting the fake.

Whoever it is has gone to some trouble.

The camera housing is a cardboard box, taped up and painted yellow and fitted with a realistic-looking "lens" on the front.

It has been mounted on a wooden post at the side of Gawthorpe Green Lane. Strips of tape have been put across the road to resemble the markings used with real cameras. All are pictured.

One local resident said: "It certainly causes drivers to slow down as they come up the hill.

"Gawthorpe Green Lane runs from Lepton through to Kirkheaton and is a very busy short cut.

"A lot of drivers use it to avoid the traffic junctions at Waterloo if they are heading to or from Kirkheaton and Mirfield. It gets quite busy in the mornings and the evenings."

There are 13 roads in Kirklees with real cameras, plus one road covered by mobile cameras.

Philip Gwynne, a spokesman for the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership, which looks after the region's speed cameras, said he was not surprised by the move.

"You would be surprised at the number of requests we get every week from people or groups asking for cameras in their areas.

"They realise the benefits cameras can have on driver behaviour, on traffic speed and of the improvements they bring to a community.

"I am not surprised someone has taken it upon themselves to put up a mock camera," he added.

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