A new police squad will patrol Oxfordshire to try to double the number of people caught speeding.

Thames Valley Police hopes the squad of ten officers will make the force's roads safer and could increase revenue from fines by more than 100 per cent.

The speed enforcement squad, to be appointed this month, is a key feature of the Safer Roads Campaign. It was launched in April last year to try to reduce the number of accidents by making drivers slow down.

As reported in the Oxford Mail earlier this week, Thames Valley Police has already seen a significant rise in the number of people caught speeding.

In the year up to the end of March 2001, 67,000 drivers were handed fixed penalty tickets - resulting in £2.19m being collected by the force. The figures showed a 26 per cent increase on the previous 12 months when 53,000 tickets were issued.

If the force's plans are successful, the next 12 months could see 153,000 speeding motorists fined, generating £4.84m.

Under the Safer Roads Campaign, the force can claim back £1.08m of the 2000/2001 revenue from the Treasury to re-invest in road safety measures.

This year, the force will again be able to claim back money spent on a list of agreed campaign features, including more speed cameras and on the case of chasing up drivers who fail to pay their fines - estimated to total £2.78m.

Insp Malcolm Collis, head of the Thames Valley Safer Roads partnership, said: "The new team will provide a visible deterrent to speeding motorists and will also be able to explain to drivers why reducing speed is a crucial part of road safety.

"The public is constantly demanding more officers on the streets and we hope that the new team will also provide a deterrent to criminals as well as provide our communities with the reassurance they require.

"We hope that in the long term drivers will accept that slowing down can make a difference."