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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Andrew Forgrave & Sean McPolin

One speed camera snares 815 holidaymakers - including one motorist twice in one day

Motorists are being warned of a notorious speed trap which as caught 815 drivers speeding over the course of six weekends - including one man twice.

The now-infamous bit of road has left many people red-faced and a few quid down while travelling from England to North Wales on holiday.

The stretch on the A55 between Abergwyngregyn and Talybont, Gwynedd, in Wales, has left one driver so incensed he urged people not to drive down it unless they're aware of the speed restrictions.

One motorist Anthony Martindale penned a letter in frustration to the Liverpool Echo, the Daily Post reports.

Mr Martindale was caught speeding in both directions between junctions 12 and 13, even though all lanes were open and no construction work was being carried out - earning himself a £100 fine, three points on his licence and ordered to take a drivers awareness course costing £90.

The A55 westbound at Abergwyngregyn has a new 40mph restriction (Hadyn Iball / North Wales Live)

He said: "The construction workers had made sure everything was safe when they stopped work on the Friday evening, so health and safety was not an issue.

“All four lanes were open so there was no disruption to traffic. Yet the North Wales Police still saw fit to continue letting the traffic continue at 40mph when it was safe to resume the statutory speed of 70mph.

“On the westbound, I was caught doing 50mph and on the eastbound I was doing 46mph. It seems I was not alone thinking that it was actually safer to travel faster on that stretch of road because on that particular Sunday, 69 people were caught, myself included.”

Temporary speeding restrictions are in place along the road as part of a £30m scheme to improve safety along part of the 2.2km stretch of carriageway.

Temporary speeding restrictions are in place along the road as part of a scheme to improve safety (Hadyn Iball / North Wales Live)

Access roads are being removed and eight gaps in the central reservation are being plugged, while a new parallel road, with underpass, is being built for farm vehicles.

Mr Martindale's expensive trip prompted a Freedom of Information request to police which showed over six weekend - from January 8 to February 13 - a total of 815 speeding fines were handed out between junctions 12 and 13.

On January 15, the worst day for speeding drivers, 94 were dished out, with numbers tailing off after that.

One furious motorist wants to warn holidaymakers to be aware of suffering the same consequences he did (Hadyn Iball / North Wales Live)

On the weekend from February 19 to February 20, no fines were handed out - but only as all temporary signs were removed after a severe weather warning.

Worst day for fines was on January 15 when 94 fines were awarded. Thereafter, motorists became wiser to the restrictions and the number of fines tailed off. On the weekend of February 19-20, no fines were dished out – but only because all temporary signs were removed after a severe weather warning.

Mr Martindale wants to warn holidaymakers to be aware of suffering the same consequences he did.

He said: “If any readers are planning to go to North Wales over the summer months, they need to be made aware that at the roadworks on the A55 at junction 12 and 13, anyone going faster than 40mph will be photographed and fined.”

On this stretch of the road, a Temporary Traffic Order restricts speeds to 40mph through the works. A 50mph speed limit is also in place on the approaches to the works. These restrictions are operational 24 hours-a-day.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Narrow lanes and a 40mph speed restriction were implemented on the eastbound carriageway during March 2021 and on the westbound carriageway during October 2021. These restrictions were introduced to protect both the travelling public and the workforce."

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