Fears over Sheffield M1 speeding fines, after faulty camera gives unsuspecting motorists false '70' message

Motorist Simon Grundy became concerned when he saw a sign indicating cars could go at 70mph, at junction 33 near Sheffield Parkway.

He was concerned it may be a fault and stuck to 50mph. He later raised his concerns with National Highways and was told there had been a problem with the sign.

Now Simon fears thousands could get fines near Christmas.

He said he understands that section of the road is controlled by average speed cameras, and that travelling over 70 in that section could put some over the ‘average speed’ limit. Signs further along the road towards Meadowhall signified a 50mph limit.

Simon had been travelling from Worksop to Meadowhall at around 8.10am on Friday October 25 when he saw the sign, a gantry sign.

He said the northbound M1 overhead sign at J33 was saying 70mph, showing the national speed limit sign, going through the roadworks where it is normally 50mph.

He said the roadworks were still taking place, but most of the drivers appeared to speed up in response to the sign.

He said: “My fear is that potentially thousands of drivers could be caught out by that one sign, and get a fine just before Christmas.”

National Highways confirmed there had been a problem with a sign, but wanted to allay fears about speeding or prosecution.

A spokesperson for National Highways said: “A faulty sign displaying national speed restriction remained in place following the removal of overnight roadworks.

“A member of the team within the control room rectified the issue as soon as possible and the national speed limit sign was removed.

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“Any enforcement action is taken by the relevant police force and National Highways notified South Yorkshire Police of the issue as soon as possible.”

Officials at the agency say that in exceptional cases, you may pass variable speed limits displaying on overhead gantries within the zone covered by speed limits indicated by hard signs.

They added that should you be in any doubt about which speed limit applies in such a situation, they would recommend that you always comply with the lower of the speed limits indicated.