THE OWNERS of a Hampshire firm whose speed camera technology has put the brakes on countless motorists are thought to be preparing to cash in to the tune of £80m.

Scores of staff of Chandler's Ford's Pips Technology face an anxious wait over their future after bosses refused to deny the business was up for sale for between £70 and £80m.

The Chandler's Ford-based firm is reported to have appointed American investment bank Jefferies Broadview to find a buyer.

A spokesman for the bank declined to comment when the Daily Echo asked if it was seeking to sell the School Lane business, which employs 60 people.

However, it is believed an industry rival and more than one private equity firm are bidding to take control of the highly regarded company.

A former Innovation Award winner in the Hampshire Business Awards and a Queens Award for Innovation recipient, Pips Technology supplies number plate recognition systems to ten police forces in the UK.

It also supplies police in the US, such as the California Highway Patrol, with digital number plate recognition cameras that allow officers to instantly see if a car is stolen.

Pips emerged from another firm, Pearpoint, first founded by technology entrepreneur Alan Sefton in 1983. Pearpoint built the world's first number plate recognition camera, which attracted big business and the company was sold in 2000. The traffic systems arm of the business - Pearpoint Image Processing Systems or Pips, was bought back by Sefton in 2001 for a "nominal sum". Last year it made pre-tax profits of around £10m.

Number plate recognition systems, such as Pips' devices, are at the forefront of cutting edge traffic control and monitoring technology. Pips devices read number plates from video without human involvement and help make possible controversial moves such as congestion charging and pay as you drive.

More than 9,000 Pips cameras are today deployed around the globe.