Cat and Fiddle cameras finally on

A network of bike-catching average speed cameras on one of the country’s most popular motorcycling roads has finally been switched on a year behind schedule.

The £800,000 cameras were installed last spring along the A537 Cat and Fiddle road on the Derbyshire-Cheshire border but could not be used for months because of a planning cock-up.

A Cheshire East Council spokeswoman revealed the problems were finally solved earlier this month. She said: “The A537 speed cameras have been fully operational since April 8, 2011, and enforcement is underway.”

The cameras measure average speed by timing vehicles between installations miles apart along the road. Because they are rear facing, they make one of the few average speed camera networks in the country capable of catching bikes.

MCN revealed last year how the devices could not work because planners had overlooked a shortcut leaving and rejoining the A537 between two of the sites. With no way of telling whether vehicles had taken the shortcut, the cameras could not calculate speed because they did not know the distance travelled.

Camera bosses believe they have addressed the problem by adding another installation.

Read more on this in MCN, on sale now.