A SPEED camera vehicle which has already snared thousands of motorists is to have its time on the roads extended – and it could become a permanent fixture.

North Yorkshire Police’s speed-camera van was introduced, initially on a six-month trial, at the start of last July, and caught 4,742 drivers breaking the speed limit in its first three months.

Of these, 70 were summoned to court.

The vehicle is equipped with five cameras, providing 360-degree coverage, and can spot speeders from 1,000 metres away. Of those it caught during the first three months, 3,897 were offered the chance to take speed awareness courses.

One driver – a 20-year-old from Whitby – was fined £600 after being caught doing 101mph on the A64 near Malton.

Last December The Press reported the case of Matthew Greenwood, of Rainsborough Way in York, who was caught riding his Suzuki GSXR1000 on the A1237 near Huntington at 116mph last October.

The road safety report prepared for next week’s North Yorkshire Police Authority meeting said the safety camera van pilot will now run until the end of this month “to allow for further analysis of results and their impact on driver behaviour and road safety”.

It said the results of the scheme so far were “very encouraging” and it had had a “positive impact”.

The report said: “The potential for a permanent safety camera van and extending permanent [speeding] operations within North Yorkshire Police is being assessed against the impact of the ongoing pilot.”