Speed camera destroyed by arsonists
ARSONISTS have destroyed a city speed camera after parking a suspected stolen car below it and setting light to it.
Emergency services were called to the camera, situated in Peverell on Outland Road opposite the Esso petrol station, at about 1.05am yesterday.
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A blue Volvo 740 had been parked up directly below the camera and set alight.
Firefighters from Greenbank fire station put out the blaze which completely destroyed the car and melted the camera.
House-to-house enquiries were carried out following the blaze, which was reported by a member of the public.
Police are treating the incident as arson and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.
Alan Mobbs, spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police, said officers are also trying to trace the owner of the car.
“This was extremely dangerous when you consider the fuel in the vehicle and the electrics inside the speed camera,” Mr Mobbs said.
“The fire could have easily spread and created an even more dangerous scenario.
“It also put firefighters at risk who were called upon to put out the fire.
“We are treating this as an arson attack and we would appeal to anyone who might have seen something to get in touch with us.”
A spokesman for the Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said: “One appliance from Greenbank was mobilised to a report of a car fire under a speed camera.
“Upon arrival the crew found one car well alight, which was parked under the speed camera, which was also involved in fire.
“Firefighters wore breathing apparatus and used one hose reel to extinguish the fires.
“The crew also used hydraulic cutting equipment to ensure the fire within the camera had been put out.
“Police attended and are investigating the cause.”
Anyone with any information is urged to call the police on 08452 777 444 quoting the log number 33 of September 8, or the crime reference number ED09 6404.
Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
65 Comments
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by Stig, Top Gear
Wednesday, September 16 2009, 1:26PM
“I think this is quite funny tbh, i mean it cost 100's and 1000's of pounds to put one of these cameras in place, just to make a measly £60 back its stupidity in my opinion, the current climate these days is getting ever worse with the number of job cuts, pay decreases etc. I say we take on the same action as swindon have and prove that there is no need for speed cameras in this region. It was amusing seeing the camera all black and looking sorry for itself!”
by pobox112, UK
Thursday, September 10 2009, 3:55AM
“It is always interesting when one of Brown's Cash Cameras or another Stealth Tax Collection point gets zapped.
You do not have to speed to get clobbered in the way that speeding was meant to be dangerous.
There are many roads in Plymouth that without doubt have limits set to tax drivers and catch them out. Nothing to do with road safety, just to do with making money.”
by Jimmy Hunt, UK
Wednesday, September 09 2009, 9:36PM
“Brilliant.
The more speed cameras that are KILLED..the better.
They rip the drivers off.
One tin of spray paint.....loads of cameras!!!!!”
by a driver, the rd
Wednesday, September 09 2009, 4:22PM
“u bad egg, u should get a knighthood. i dont disagree with speed cameras if they were used proplery and there was a bit of give and take.
get the real crimanals off the streets not some 70 year old person that is going a bit fast.”
by Ford Prefect, Poole
Wednesday, September 09 2009, 2:13PM
“Because I¿ll be honest about it, speed cameras themselves don¿t bother or affect me in the slightest, I see them as little more than a monument to failure, a white elephant and a modern day folly of wishful thinking.
What I object to is cutting our traffic police to rely on them.
You hear all this total nonsense from the camera supporters about ¿stay below the limit and you¿ve got nothing to worry about¿ and ¿you motorists think you own the roads¿ and all the other similar garbage that totally misses the point.
While the rest of us watch every road in the country being used as a race track except for the hundred yards a camera covers. Meanwhile the drink drive figures continue to rise, driving under the influence of drugs goes unchallenged and a whole raft of crime spring up due to the easily exploited loopholes in speed camera policy leaving the rest of us legal drivers more vulnerable than we¿ve every been before.
Yet still the simple minded camera supporters don¿t get it, they still witter on as if the drivers the rest of us can see surfing and ignore these ridiculous cameras everyday are actually scared of them. If it wasn¿t so serious, it¿d be funny!
But why does it continue? because Camera manufacturers such as Redflex are spending millions each year on political lobbying to make sure their lucrative contracts don't have the plug pulled.
safety?, as eddie royle would say ..my ****!”