A fine was issued every two hours to motorists trapped by speed cameras in Maidstone last year, figures have revealed.

The borough was the second most ticketed in Kent, with more than 5,800 handed out in 2014, up 1,200 on the previous year.

The figures come from Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership, which operates the cameras and comprises the county council, Medway Council, the Highways Agency and police.

The stretch of the M20 between junction 4 for Leybourne and 6 for Maidstone saw the most offenders in the borough, with almost 3,400.

Next was the Maidstone-bound carriageway at Detling Hill, with some 1,200 speeding drivers.

Worst was the Dartford tunnel approach, with more than 7,600 breaking the limit.

But five cameras did not issue a single ticket, including Hayle Road, Tonbridge Road, Sittingbourne-bound on the A249 at Detling Hill and the A229 Loose Road.

A total of 56,581 tickets across Kent and Medway, from fixed and mobile cameras, brought in an estimated £5.6m in fines.

Cameras in Tonbridge and Malling caught fewer than 500 offenders but more than 4,000 in Tunbridge Wells.

Project and communications officer for KMSCP, Colin Evans, explained that even where cameras were inactive, there were regular mobile camera patrols to help enforce the speed limit, adding: “Cameras are like any other complex piece of technical equipment, and ours are well into their second decade of use helping to moderate speed across Kent.”

He said the partnership was hoping to replace its current stock of cameras with digital units, which will require less maintenance and suffer less down-time as a result.

Fixed cameras are placed where three or more people have been killed or seriously injured over a 1.5km stretch of road in the three years before installation.