THE NUMBER of drivers getting fined for speeding in Oxford's 20mph zones has quadrupled in four years.

More than 980 drivers were fined in 2015, compared to just 168 in 2012.

Police have said they are using increasingly sophisticated speed guns to catch more speeders: officers now use handheld cameras which automatically send registration plate details back to HQ, meaning they no longer have to stop drivers to get their details.

But despite the increasing success rate, police have not exactly been shouting about their achievement: the Oxford Mail had to use a Freedom of Information Request to find out how many people had been fined.

Oxford children's illustrator Ted Dewan, who campaigned for 20mph limits across the city, welcomed the news the force was catching more people but said local authorities could slow drivers down better by narrowing roads and adding street furniture to make them more aware they were in built-up areas, as has been done in Frideswide Square.

Mr Dewan and fellow residents of Beech Croft Road, Summertown, managed to reduce the average speed on their street to 16mph by adding "DIY traffic-calming measures" such as planters and benches which make drivers more aware people may be using the road.

The father-of-one, who drives and cycles, said: "I am pleased to see 20mph limits are enforced, but I would far rather they didn't have to be.

"Behaviour is suggested by the environment, and I feel safe when I see roads designed to change drivers' behaviour.

"When a road looks like it's in a 30mph environment, like St Giles, it is very difficult to adjust from that driver trance – I feel it myself."

Mr Dewan said he would like to see problem roads in Oxford redesigned with some of the same techniques he and his neighbours used in Beech Croft Road.

He said: "If money were no object these places would be redesigned: I hope I live to see that environment in St Giles."

Simon Hunt, chairman of cycling campaign group Cyclox, said he did not feel any safer on city roads now than he did four years ago.

He said: "There's no doubt vehicles that travel faster discourage people from cycling.

"I welcome that there seems to be more enforcement but it's not a high-visibility activity – I haven't been aware of media campaigns about it.

"They could amplify the effect by promoting their success."

Oxford City Councillor Susanna Pressel also questioned why police were not touting their success to deter other drivers from speeding.

She said: "Enforcement is clearly not the main deterrent – publicity is: we don't want to catch people speeding, we want them not to speed.

"It is clear the message is not getting through to people in general, the police must take more trouble to advertise what they're doing."

The revelation of the police's success comes after the Oxford Mail used a Freedom of Information request to persuade the force to enforced 20mph limits in the first place.

Road safety campaigners fought for years to get 20mph speed limits on Oxford’s residential streets and won their battle in 2009.

But in 2012 we used an FOI to reveal that in those three years police did not dish out a single fine.

The force fined 168 speeding drivers in the rest of that year, and the following year the handed out 256 fines totalling £18,240.

Out latest FOI request reveals that last year that number more than doubled to 785 tickets worth £20,500, and it increased again to 981 tickets in 2015, worth £17,100.

The total cash raked in went down because more people are choosing to take a £95 speed awareness course over the £100 fine and three points on their licence.

Answering the criticism that the force did not publicise its work enough, Thames Valley Police spokesman Gareth Ford-Lloyd said: "We run a number of campaigns including the Safe Drive Stay Alive campaign, aimed at educating young drivers on the dangers of the road and how to drive safely.

"We also run the Community Speedwatch scheme which encourages people to report areas that communities see as an issue in terms of speeding.

"Further to this, Roads Policing Officers regularly tweet about the successes they have when it comes to speeding motorists."