The controversial introduction of average speed cameras on the A9 is continuing to pay dramatic dividends with three quarters of the motorists previously detected speeding now obeying the law, the authorities claim.

The cameras were introduced in the autumn amidst a welter of criticism. But the latest figures published by the multi-agency A9 Safety Group show that, 1,744 vehicles were detected speeding on the stretches of the A9 with the cameras between October 28 and April 20, which was described as an "extremely high level of compliance".

Stewart Leggett, Chair of the A9 Safety Group said:

"The monitoring equipment on the route clearly indicates that there has been a significant shift in driver behaviour with the number of vehicles exceeding the speed limit reduced from one in three to one in 15, and more importantly the number of vehicles travelling at excess speed, 10mph above the limit, is down from one in 10 before installation and has been maintained at a level of around one in 250 since the cameras were introduced."

He said the latest figures released by Police Scotland indicated that the level of vehicles exceeding the enforcement thresholds equated to an average below 10 per day across the whole of the enforcement area based on an average daily traffic volume of over 10,000 vehicles between Perth & Inverness and 24,000 vehicles daily between Dunblane and Perth.