More than 65,000 speeding tickets were handed out across West Yorkshire in 12 months, new figures have revealed.

According to the Home Office, 66,031 people received a fixed penalty notice in 2005, the equivalent of 180 a day. In 1997 the figure stood at 24,103 tickets.

Across the 43 forces in England and Wales, the number of fines for speeding has almost trebled from 700,000 a year to more than 1.9 million in the seven year period, but the 12 months from 2004 to 2005 show a reduction both nationally and across West Yorkshire.

Critics have blamed the increasing number of fines on additional speed cameras across the country and accused Labour of fleecing motorists.

Conservative transport spokesman Theresa Villiers said: "These figures will lead many to wonder whether the Government is using fixed penalty notices just to raise revenue.

"Enforcing the law should be the overriding motivation behind speed cameras and penalties. They should not be used just as a cash cow."

But the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership said it was "not news" there were more cameras on the roads and their value in reducing crashes and casualties has been proven.

A spokesman said: "In West Yorkshire the number of speeding convictions has fallen over the past three years. At the start of this year, we were pleased to report 14,000 fewer motorists were caught speeding in 2006 than in 2005.

"As a result, the number of fixed penalty fines fell by 15,000, or close to £1 million. It's the lowest number of detected speeding offences since West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership was formed in 2002, principally through the use of speed control safety cameras. The figures for 2007 will be collated and published early in 2008."

Last year a report by MPs demanded more speed cameras to prevent deaths on roads and called for additional funding to be made available.

It pointed to evidence which showed 42 per cent fewer people were killed or seriously injured in crashes at sites which had fixed speed cameras.

In Bradford there are 16 fixed cameras, 29 mobile cameras and three red light cameras at the Leeds Road junction Shipley Airedale Road, in both directions, the A641 Manchester Road junction Ransdale Road and the A650 Manningham Lane junction Queen's Road.

The "standard" fine for speeding remains at £60 plus three points for drivers who accept the fixed penalty notice.

However, if they are caught speeding above a certain threshold they can be hauled before the courts. Fines and points can also increase depending on how far over the limit the driver was. Speeders can also face a complete ban.