Speeding bikers are avoiding fines by using number plates which are too small for speed cameras to detect, it has been revealed.
On a number of occasions police have been unable to read the illegal plates on bikes because of their size.
The problem does not relate to Gatso-style cameras but affects handheld speed cameras using laser technology and those used on tripods. reported Suffolk and Essex Online.
Fixed scameras can zoom in and read the plate if it is too small.
Camera operators have to spin round when a bike comes past too quickly, due to the lack of front plate, meaning they have less time to read the back one.
Bikers using special fonts also cause problems and police are now planning a clampdown on illegal plates.
Officers in Essex have noticed a large number of bikers avoiding fines and highway bosses at County Hall, Chelmsford, were reportedly told ‘enforcement related to speeding motorcycles was difficult’ because the size of the number plate ‘often resulted in the offender evading camera detection’.
The police are apparently now using helicopters to stop speeding bikers and special markings have been put down on the roads to judge their speed.
A spokesman for the Essex Casualty Reduction Board, which includes Essex Police and the county council, told reporters: ‘Our trained technicians are able to read the images provided by our fixed and mobile safety cameras in the vast majority of cases. ‘Where this is not the case it is often because number plates don't meet the requirements of the law and this is a prosecutable road offence.’