Mobile speed cameras are to be put into action at one of Bradford's accident blackspots.

And the city's traffic bosses say they have already seriously reduced road casualties across the district.

The mobile safety camera patrols will be in operation on the A651 Bradford Road at Birkenshaw. West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership is putting the cameras into operation because the road has a bad record of crashes.

It is hoped the patrols will encourage drivers to keep to the speed limit, reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured.

Two other sites in the region - the A653 Leeds Road at Shaw Cross, near Batley, and the A629 Keighley Road at Ogden, near Halifax - will also be targeted by mobile patrols. And six speed cameras are to be put up along Cottingley Cliffe Road, Cottingley, in the next few weeks.

According to Bradford Council's latest road injury figures, the number of people killed or seriously injured on the district's highways has dropped significantly.

Statistics for 2002 show 26 people were killed compared to 32 the previous year, a drop of 20 per cent. Last year 253 people were seriously injured, compared to 294 in 2001.

Steve Thornton, a principal traffic engineer with Bradford Council, said the figures showed the positive effect of speed cameras at some accident blackspots.

"I think the figures reflect the fact that when motorists see the cameras their driver behaviour changes," he said. "We have seen a significant drop in casualties at spots where the cameras have been installed."

The number of pedestrians injured on the roads was down to 463 and pedestrian child injuries fell from 235 to 191.