More than £1 million was paid out in speed camera fines in Leicestershire in 12 months, new figures show.

A Freedom of Information request to the county's speed camera partnership found motorists were fined £1,058,880 in 2008-09, the most recently available figures.

Drivers in Nottinghamshire paid out more than double that figure at £2,380,980, while Derbyshire had the lowest speed camera income in the East Midlands at £762,960.

The data was compiled for a new report from the Taxpayers' Alliance, which looked at how much money was earned from road fines and how effective speed cameras were at reducing road deaths.

Throughout the UK, speed cameras are operated by safety camera partnerships usually made up of the police, local authorities and courts.

Road death data, also compiled by the pressure group, led them to conclude that the reduction rate for road deaths had actually slowed down since the introduction of speed cameras.

Coun Lesley Pendleton, the county council's transport spokesman, said: "In my experience, safety cameras can lead to a reduction in the number of accidents.

"We had two installed along the A6 in Kegworth after a series of accidents and there have been no fatalities since.

"But they are only part of the way drivers can be encouraged to drive more safely. Speed activated signs and traffic calming measures are all used to make roads safer."

She added: "The money paid in fines is ring-fenced and ploughed back into the partnership, so it isn't a money-making scheme. It is self-funding."

But Peter Roberts, chief executive of the pressure group Drivers' Alliance, said: "Speed cameras have been a false hope in improving safety.

"Close statistical analysis of road casualties shows that, since speed cameras have been the main driver of road safety policy, the road casualty rate has not gone down at the trajectory expected.

"It is time to rethink road safety policy so that it has broadened focus, not solely based on speed. No more speed cameras should be funded by local authorities and existing speed cameras should be removed."

The report also outlines how much money is generated from fines imposed by magistrates' courts throughout the country.

Magistrates courts in Leicestershire handed out £422,747 in fines, compared to £530,952 in Nottinghamshire and £317,685 in Derbyshire. The Taxpayers' Alliance made requests to the Ministry of Justice and various safety camera partnerships to obtain all of the information.

Last year, Swindon became the first town in Britain to scrap speed cameras and has seen no increase in road accidents since.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "The whole country should follow the example of Swindon.

"People are now sick of being fined under the guise of road safety."