SPEED cameras could be pulled from Swindon's streets - unless the Government agrees to plough all of the cash they generate back into the town.

Seven cameras monitor speeders and red light jumpers across the town.

But now a Conservative councillor wants the Government to hand the proceeds to the council, which he says is under-funded.

If the Government refuses, he wants the authority to pull out of the Wiltshire and Swindon Safety Camera Partnership.

"We are not trying to make it easier for pedestrians to be injured," said Coun Andy James (Con, Dorcan).

"But we honestly believe that we can take this money and spend it more effectively than the Government.

"At the moment people in Swindon are spending a lot of money and getting nothing for it.

"That makes these cameras a stealth tax.

"I feel this is a logical, common sense approach to take and I hope things will get moving quickly."

Since April, when the rules were changed, all cash raised by speeding fines has gone directly to central Government.

It then allocates the cash to councils, which can spend it on road safety.

Most councils put the cash into speed camera partnerships.

The Wiltshire and Swindon Speed Camera Partnership is funded by Wiltshire County Council and Swindon Council.

Nisha Devani, manager of the Speed Camera Partnership, said the number of serious and fatal collisions has been reduced more than 70 per cent since cameras were introduced in Swindon in 2002.

"The Department for Transport judges the effectiveness of a camera site by the reduction in fatal and serious injury casualties alone," she said.

"Motorists will continue to have collisions for a variety of reasons, but when they occur at or below the speed limit the severity of injury and likelihood of death reduces and they may receive slight injuries whereas before they may have been serious or fatal.

"Each fatal collision costs the community over £1.4m let alone the heartaches and changes in life for all those involved."

In October it was revealed that Wiltshire and Swindon's 10 busiest cameras snapped 42,000 speeding drivers in just one year.

Sgt Nick Blencowe of the partnership said: "Swindon is an integral part of the partnership.

"What we do in Wiltshire and Swindon affects each area and surrounding regions as well.

"So if we could no longer operate in a particular area it would have an effect across boundaries."

Coun Peter Greenhalgh, cabinet member for highways, transport and strategic planning, is backing the motion and says speed camera revenue should be spent on improving roads.

Jo Stagg of Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: "It is much better for councils to work in partnership with other organisations, such as police, to tackle road safety.

"We don't believe that the council pulling out of the partnership would be very productive because in these bodies everyone brings their own expertise to the table."

The issue will be debated at a council meeting on Thursday.