FIXED speed cameras in Dorset may be switched off this autumn as spending cuts continue to take their toll on networks across the country.

Bournemouth and Poole councils as well as Dorset county council have reduced their camera funding and Dorset Road Safe, formerly the Dorset Safety Camera Partnership, has terminated its contract with a PR company.

As neighbouring county Wiltshire becomes the latest council to announce plans to axe its speed cameras this autumn, it has been claimed that plans to turn off cameras in Dorset were unveiled at a meeting between Dorset county council officers and local councillors.

Ferndown mayor Jean Read said a county council officer had confirmed that camera funding was being reviewed with the possibility that the network could be switched off in October, adding: “I don’t think it’s a good idea to take deterrents away.”

The revelation comes just days after Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole councils had pledged their ongoing support to the Dorset Road Safe scheme.

A Dorset Road Safe spokesman said: "We cannot confirm the budget as it has not been approved yet."