Marlborough and Kaikoura drivers clocked up almost $300,000 in speed camera fines this year to October, surpassing last year's figure by more than 15 per cent.

The number of unpaid speed camera fines was up by 50 per cent.

Information obtained by The Marlborough Express under the Official Information Act show 4427 drivers were caught speeding on camera in the first 10 months of this year. Almost 5000 drivers were caught last year, owing more than $257,000 in fines.

However, 897 of the speeding tickets issued this year - worth almost $62,000 - were not paid and have been referred to court.

That number is up from last year, when 599 speed camera tickets, totalling more than $40,000, went unpaid.

Two speed camera vans cover Marlborough, Kaikoura and Nelson Bays.More speeding tickets are issued by police officers, compared with speed camera offences. Almost 7000 speeding tickets were issued by officers last year, compared to 5808 in the first 10 months of this year.

The majority of offences were in Blenheim, with 4426 officer and speed camera offence notices issued to the end of October this year, compared to 5172 last year. Kaikoura was second, with 4209 speeding offences, down from 5795 last year.

State Highway 1 near Goose Bay, south of Kaikoura, was the highest-grossing camera spot in the region, with 1776 notices issued this year.

- The Marlborough Express

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