Helicopter to zap speeding drivers

Motorists are being warned that they could be caught speeding by a police helicopter armed with a radar detection device.

More that 20 signs are being put up in Essex telling drivers that police are watching from the sky.

Essex County Council - which is erecting the helicopter warning signs - says the aircraft is equipped with a "skyshout" public address system which could be used to "warn of a detection".

A taxpayers' campaign group said the signs and the use of the helicopter to trap speeders were a "bizarre" way to spend public money.

The TaxPayers' Alliance said the helicopter - thought to cost about £1,000 an hour to run - would be "a very expensive speed camera".

And a spokesman said signs warning motorists of a helicopter was "possibly not the best way to encourage drivers to keep their eyes on the road".

Essex County Council said in a statement: "Motorists in Essex are being warned their activities are likely to be picked up from the sky if they drive dangerously."

"New distinctive signs have been designed to warn motorists of the possibility of detection of offences by air.

"The signs warn of the possible discovery by the force helicopter equipped with a special Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) device which can read a car number plate from 700 feet and radar speed detection."

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