WILTSHIRE recorded the least number of speeding offences in England and Wales last year, figures reveal.

Analysis of Home Office data by the RAC Foundation shows that motorists were caught driving too fast 807 times by Wiltshire Police in 2018-19.

The data shows that speeding accounted for 27 per cent of driving offences in Wiltshire. This was a much lower proportion than across England and Wales as a whole where 84 per cent of the 2.8 million motoring crimes logged were for speeding

The number of speeding offences detected in the county in 2018-19 was 32 per cent lower than during the previous year, and 85 per cent less than in 2011-12.

In Wiltshire, all speed cameras were turned off in 2010.

Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation said: “The simple rule for drivers who don’t want to risk ending up with a speeding ticket is not to break the limit in the first place.

“Where limits are properly signposted, and clearly feel right for the road in question, then motorists have no excuse for going faster.

“But that means highway authorities also have a responsibility to make sure the limits they set are appropriate and to avoid instances where the limit repeatedly bounces up and down along a single stretch.”

In Wiltshire, 76% of speeding offences in 2018-19 were dealt with by handing the driver a fine.

The next most common outcome was a speed awareness course, 15 per cent, while 7 per cent resulted in court action and 1 per cent of offences cancelled.

Across England and Wales, the 2.4 million offences recorded in 2018-19 represented a 4 per cent annual increase, and a 37 per cent rise compared with seven years previously.

While the lowest number were caught in Wiltshire, in West Yorkshire, the figure stood at 182,000. Researchers suggested the disparity is partly due to road type, traffic volume and local policing.