AN ANTI-speed initiative saved up to 55 lives in Gwent during its first nine months, Gwent Police revealed.

The Safety Camera Partnership, responsible for static and mobile speed camera enforcement, was introduced in Gwent in April last year.

And since then, police say the number of people killed or seriously injured in Gwent has dropped by 79 per cent in areas where there are speed cameras.

A total of 260 were killed or seriously injured in Gwent between April and December before speed cameras were introduced - compared to 205 since the partnership was introduced.

Motorcyclist Lee Beddis, (pictured) of Henwaen Street, Blaina, in September 2001, who was caught doing 155mph on the Heads of the Valleys road, was given a community punishment order and banned for a year.

This was the fastest speed recorded by a UK speed camera and was the type of offence the partnership aims to target.

However, cameras and officers in Gwent are still catching 5,000 people speeding a month.

On some roads, like the dual carriageway between Newport and Monmouth, police are catching over 60 people an hour.