http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/display ... K=10397082
FIREBUGS TORCH SPEED CAMERAS
16:00 - 22 June 2004
Vandals torched speed cameras on one of Aberdeen's busiest commuter routes today.
Police have launched a probe into the attacks which happened at around 12.30am.
Officers were investigating whether anti-speed camera campaigners were behind the incidents.
The cameras targeted were on:
The A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road at Marshall Trailers just outside Aberdeen.
The A96 outside the Britannia Hotel in Auchmill Road, Bucksburn.
Police said it was the first time speed cameras had been targeted in such a way in the North-east.
One camera had a tyre thrown over it and then set alight. The second was torched from the base causing £8,000 worth of damage.
The cameras are used to monitor speed and snap drivers who break the limit.
Today's incident comes as controversy grows over the use of speed cameras nationally.
Critics argue they are being used by police as a way of generating cash by catching motorists on relatively safe stretches of road.
But police say they are a vital tool in their attempts to slash the number of road deaths.
Acting Sergeant Doug Main, of the North-East Safety Camera Partnership, said he was concerned anti-speed camera campaigners might be targeting the North-east.
"This is the first time we have had actual attacks on speed cameras up here," he said.
"There has been some cases of backlash against the cameras down south. In one case in the Borders someone used a tractor to completely remove one of them.
"We always have to be aware of what is going on in other areas but until now there has been a lot of good will from the public here."
Paul Smith, head of Safe Speed, a Scottish-based anti-speed camera group, said he had not heard of any camera vandals operating in the North-east.
"We never condone that sort of vandalism, " he said. "And I don't move in those sort of circles. But I can see the pressures that upstanding members of the community are feeling."