Casualties at a Cottingley blackspot have been reduced with the introduction of six high-visibility speed cameras - even before they have been switched on.

The six Gatso cameras have been put up along Cottingley Cliffe Road, between Cottingley Moor Road and Thorn Lane, where there were 24 casualties last year.

The cameras were installed on either side of the one-mile stretch of road - which has seen 57 casualties since 1997 - in January.

There have only been two casualties on the road so far this year compared to six for the same period last year. And the cameras are not expected to be switched on until early next month.

Before the alterations Cottingley Cliffe Road had claimed one fatality, with the number of serious injuries averaging three a year. Steve Thornton, a principal traffic engineer with Bradford Council and chairman of the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership, said: "Local people have been very concerned about road speeds and they have welcomed the introduction of speed cameras.

"They will make Cottingley Cliffe Road safer for all road users."

Residents campaigned for the traffic-calming measures because of fears of an accident outside Cottingley Village Primary School, on the corner of Cottingley Cliffe Road and Cottingley Moor Road. And as part of an approved scheme by David Wilson Homes for 67 homes off Cottingley Moor Road, the developer is providing a pelican crossing outside the school.

"It's too early to talk definitively about the effects the cameras have had on safer driving, but early reports from this site are encouraging - though two casualties are still two too many in our view," said Mr Thornton. "What I can say is that speed control safety cameras have had a marked and almost immediate impact on helping reduce casualties at every site where they've been installed throughout West Yorkshire.

"We look forward to seeing the same benefits at Cottingley Cliffe Road."

The West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership installs and operates safety cameras. The Cottingley cameras have been installed as part of £140,000 Bradford Council roads improvement scheme. It is being supported by West Yorkshire Police, the Highways Agency, West Yorkshire Health Authority and the Magistrate's Court Service.

Motorists caught doing more than 40mph by the cameras, housed in yellow boxes on top of grey pillars, risk a fixed penalty of £60 and three points on their licence.