Speed cameras have emerged as a key battleground between candidates battling it out to become the new Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner .

Ukip candidate Godfrey Bloom provoked an impassioned response from rival contender Lord Prescott when he claimed false data was used to show speed cameras cut the number of deaths on the roads.

Lord Prescott said he looked at this issue when he was part of the Labour government and said speed cameras were responsible for a reduction in serious injuries and deaths on the roads from 48,000 down to 25,000.

"Kids have gone down from 6,000 deaths to 4,000. There's a direct correlation between the improvements we've had and safety cameras," Lord Prescott added.

But Mr Bloom said: "These are fake statistics from your government who also bankrupted the country. It's absolutely disgraceful."

He added that speed cameras should have been installed only at accident blackspots but they have instead been used as "cash cows".

The other candidates indicated that they would seek to limit the use of speed cameras to locations where accident numbers are a problem, though they did accept the cameras play a role in road safety.

Campaigning for the new commissioner role - which covers Hull, Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Beverley and rural East Yorkshire - is hotting up, as the November elections loom large.

Copyright Press Association 2012