SPEED cameras will be put on a Hampshire motorway for the first time in a bid to stop motorists speeding through roadworks.

Drivers will face a fine of £60 and three penalty points if they are caught travelling at more than 50 miles per hour through the cone zone on the M27.

The roadworks were put in place at the beginning of last month and are set to last until the end of March. Since the narrow lanes have been in place between junctions seven and nine, a speed restriction has been in place.

Despite signposts and flashing road signs warning motorists of the new limit, Highways Agency bosses claim drivers have been flouting the limit. They have contacted the Safety Camera Partnership for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which has agreed for the first time to enforce the speed limit by putting a mobile camera unit in the motorway roadworks.

A spokesman for the Safety Camera Partnership said: "There is a temporary 50mph speed limit to protect workers who are in close proximity to the traffic. There have been speed-activated signs in the roadworks that flash up the speed limits to road users who are exceeding them, but drivers have been ignoring these.

"There have already been several accidents in the roadworks and drivers have even tried to overtake marked police vehicles."

The move has been backed by the AA Motoring Trust. Head of road safety Andrew Howard said: "Five or six years ago we were talking about a 150 per cent increase in the number of accidents happening in roadworks.

"Enforcing speed limits through roadworks on motorways has been done before elsewhere and is necessary, particularly when there is nothing more than bollards protecting lanes of traffic from each other and workmen who unfortunately are killed in the line of their work quite often."

The move has been criticised by the Association of British Drivers. Spokesman Nigel Humphries said: "I would like to see these figures they have on the increased accident rate in the roadworks. I would also like to see them justify having a restriction in place in the middle of the night with no traffic around."

M27 ROADWORKS:

The roadworks between junctions seven and an area beyond junction eight of the M27 have been in place on both the eastbound and westbound carriageways since January 5.

Lanes have been narrowed and motorists have been driving on the hard shoulders while parts of the central reservations have been removed.

Engineers have been working around the clock to complete a programme of communication upgrades along the stretch of motorway that will include new electronic signposts and sensors embedded in the road to monitor traffic speeds.

The work is on course to be completed by March 31.