A huge divide has been exposed in the number of speeding tickets dished out in Kent... and it all depends where you get behind the wheel.

Almost 50,000 motorists across Kent and Medway were snapped by speed cameras last year.

But you're hundreds of times more likely to get a ticket if you drive in parts of Maidstone or Tunbridge Wells than if you take to the roads of Gravesham.

And if you were a driver in Sevenoaks or Dover last year you would have been sure to escape a speed awareness course or fine... not a single one was handed out all year there.

Fixed cameras caught 6,978 drivers across three major routes in Tunbridge Wells, including the A267 Frant Road - the county’s most active camera.

The figures from Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership (KMSCP), which operates the cameras, also shows a huge divide in offences across the county.

While 3,366 motorists were flashed in Maidstone, only 39 were caught over the limit in nearby Gravesham - all on the A226 Rochester Road.

The stats also revealed that no drivers were caught or fined by fixed points in Dover or Sevenoaks.

Safety cameras project manager, Anne-Marie Penny, says the figures from 2012 do not show Kent’s motorists are part of a postcode lottery: “We put cameras where there has been a history of crashes where speed has been a factor and where we see speeding most common.

“We don’t place cameras by postcodes in the county we just look at the casualty rates.

“Sevenoaks, for example, has fewer casualties than other districts that is why you have fewer cameras than other areas in Kent.”

Fixed camera sites are located where three or more people have been killed or seriously injured over a 1.5km stretch of road, in the three years before installation.

Ms Penny added: “50,000 people speeding is still worrying and we want to change peoples behaviour on the road, not just with speed but with driving habits and the use of technology like mobile phones at the wheel.”

“People are still being killed and injured on Kent’s roads because of people continuing to speed and it is preventable, that is what is most shocking.”

No county breakdown was available for mobile speed camera points, but a total of 24,378 drivers were handed tickets, a court summons or speed awareness course.

Slightly more drivers - 25,276 - were caught by fixed cameras in the county (25,276).

Total number of offences in 2012 (resolved by fixed penalty, referral to court, or Speed Awareness Course) *

Maidstone: 3366

A229 Loose Road (both directions) 505

A229 Hayle Road 96

A26 Tonbridge Road 123

A20 London Road 1116

A249 Sittingbourne Road, Detling (towards Maidstone) 730

A249 Sittingbourne Road, Detling (towards Sittingbourne) 0

A274 Sutton Road 796

Willington Street 0

Tonbridge and Malling : 2155

B245 London Road 190

A227 Wrotham Road 1434

A26 London Road 331

A26 St John’s Road 200

Tunbridge Wells: 6978

A26 Eridge Road 0

A264 Langton Road 90

A264 Pembury Road 3173

A267 Frant Road 3715

Ashford total: 186

A292 Hythe Road 186

Canterbury: 2065

A28 Pin Hill 2035

A257 St Martin’s Hill 30

Dartford: 2583

A225 Princes Road 0

A206 Burnham Road 0

A226 Dartford Road 0

B2174 Princes Road 0

A225 Hawley Road 466

A226 London Road 0

A226 London Road 10

A225 Main Road 0

A226 London Road 0

Birchwood Road 1110

Birchwood Road 18

Dartford Tunnel approach 979

Dover: 0

A258 Dover Road 0

Gravesham: 39

A227 Wrotham Road, Meopham 0

A227 Wrotham Road, Meopham 0

A226 Rochester Road (both directions) 39

Valley Drive 0

Medway: 3085

A289 Gillingham Northern Link 40

A289 Gillingham Northern Link 0

B2108 Hollywood Lane, Wainscott 0

A289 Gillingham Northern Link 7

B2108 Rede Court Road, Rochester 0

B2108 Brompton Farm Road, Rochester 0

A228 Frindsbury Hill, Rochester 0

A231 Best Street, Chatham 0

Walderslade Road, Chatham 0

A2 High Street, Rainham 95

A2 New Road, Chatham 183

Deanwood Drive 140

A2 Chatham Hill 271

New Road, Rochester 483

A2 London Road, Rainham 1749

A229 Maidstone Road, Chatham 0

A228 Grain 117

Sevenoaks :0

A20 Gorse Hill 0

Shepway : 2437

A261 London Road 508

C670 Canterbury Road 0

A259 Seabrook Road 4

B2071 Littlestone Road 173

A259 Sandgate Esplanade 1752

Swale : 1773

A2 London Road 1161

A2 Canterbury Road 0

A2 London Road 550

B2008 Chequers Road, Minster-on-Sea 62

A2 London Road/High Street 0

A2 London Road/Hartlip Hill 0

A2 St Michael’s Road 0

Thanet : 609

A254 Margate Road 0

A254 Ramsgate Road 0

B2053 Northdown Hill / Green Lane 0

A28 Canterbury Road 76

A28 Canterbury Road 533

Canterbury Road, Margate 0

Total tickets from all fixed cameras 25,276

Total tickets from all mobile camera location 24,378

Total tickets combined 49,654

* Source: Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership

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