Traffic Fines UP for on duty Police

London's police officers are notching up a growing number of traffic tickets while on duty.

Figures show the the Metropolitan Police incurred 2,396 fines for speeding, illegal parking or bus lane offences in the first five months of this year whereas in 2004 the figure was 3,328 fines - for the whole of the year.

Tickets can be overturned if officers have a valid reason.

The Met said the rise was due to a growing fleet of police vehicles and more speed and bus lane cameras.

Acting Chief Supt Ian Chappell (in charge of the Met's traffic operational command unit) said Met officers covered more than 65 million miles a year and it was sometimes necessary to breach traffic regulations in emergencies.

"None of our officers are above the law and neither would they wish to be." he said. "Every officer must account to a senior officer for his or her actions, and only once it has been demonstrated that their actions were necessary in the course of their duties, are the violations cancelled."

From January to May this year, the offences were:

• 444 fines for speeding
• 900 for bus lane offences
• 1,052 for illegal parking while on duty.

The Met spent £190,000 on traffic fines in the last financial year.

Other forces reflected this trend with West Midlands police facing 1,074 speed camera fines in the first five months of the year, compared with 1,186 in the whole of 2004.

All but 22 of last year's fines were overturned.