We need facts, not prejudices, in the debate about the efficacy of speed cameras.

For years we have been told that they have reduced speeds and reduced accidents; the evidence is there, as highlighted by your correspondent Dani Rabinowitz (Oxford Mail ViewPoints, July 29) among others.

Villages campaigned for years to get speed limits to reduce the nuisance and danger posed by fast traffic through small settlements, with new 30mph limits introduced in recent years.

Unfortunately, the limits are not enough on their own, they do need to be enforced, with speed cameras installed and operational at some locations.

It is frankly astonishing that the same local authority which supported both reduced speeds and their enforcement with cameras is now happily abandoning these policies to save money in the very short term.

Even just one fatal accident will cost overall some £1.9m on average – a serious accident an average of £218,000 – and the environment will be less pleasant with faster traffic on residential and country roads.

The Liberal Democrat opposition at County Hall proposed a rethink on this insane policy U-turn.

Had only £300,000 been cut from the contribution to the Road Safety Partnership, the police would have been able to retain camera operation.

The money could easily be recouped by reintroducing evening and Sunday parking charges in central Oxford, for example.

But the Conservative administration blocked the proposed amendment and stuck to their ‘saving’ of £600,000.

We are now hearing that speeds are already rising – by as much as 88 per cent in Watlington Road.

What will Keith Mitchell say to the family of the next casualty of excessive speeding in Oxfordshire?

Jean Fooks County Councillor for Summertown and Wolvercote, Deputy Leader, Liberal Democrat Group, St Bernard’s Road, Oxford