More than 20,000 drivers caught speeding in Nottinghamshire in the last year

Nottinghamshire Police recorded 21,791 offences in 2019-20, according to analysis of Home Office figures by the RAC Foundation.

But this was still 11 per cent fewer than the 24,565 logged during the previous year, while across the 43 police forces in England and Wales the figure rose by eight per cent.

The number of people caught breaking the speed limit across the two nations hit 2.6 million in 2019-20.

There was wide variation between areas – North Yorkshire saw the largest spike with the figure more than doubling, while Avon & Somerset Constabulary recorded a 32 per cent drop.

The RAC Foundation said this could be down to a variety of factors, including differences in road networks, traffic volumes, policing priorities and resources, and the availability of detection technology.

Steve Gooding, the group's director, said: “Not for the first time there seems to be a patchwork approach to speed enforcement across England and Wales, with different constabularies dedicating varying levels of resource into catching those who break the limit."

Mr Gooding added that it was unclear whether reduced traffic levels during lockdown will subsequently lead to fewer speeding offences being committed compared with previous years, or if the clearer open roads will have tempted some drivers to go even faster.

Figures obtained earlier this year showed many police forces recorded a significant drop in the number of drivers caught speeding at the start of lockdown in April, compared to a year earlier.

Nottinghamshire Police did not provide comparable data for this time period.

In Nottinghamshire, speed cameras caught nearly all (98 per cent) recorded speeding offences in the county last year, which accounted for 78 per cent of all motoring offences over the period – compared to 85 per cent across England and Wales.

Speeding drivers in the area were fined on around 19,200 occasions, while around 2,200 offences resulted in court action.

Offences were cancelled in 302 cases, while 91 resulted in a speed awareness course.

The RAC’s analysis shows the number of detected speeding offences across England and Wales has risen by 49 per cent since 2011-12.

But the figure dropped by seven per cent in Nottinghamshire, from 23,400 eight years ago.

Mr Gooding added: “As always we need to have regard to the bigger picture.

"All motoring laws are there to make our roads safer, hence tackling speeding is important, but it is only one aspect of driver behaviour that warrants attention if we are to break out of the plateauing of road fatalities in recent years.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “How the police deal with speeding offences is an operational matter and will be enforced at the discretion of the individual police force.

“How forces approach speed enforcement may be governed by their own assessment of local issues, which could include targeting dangerous roads to reduce harm or cracking down on high-risk offenders.”