ACCIDENTS at the site of the country's most infamous speed camera on the M11 in Woodford Green have actually increased since it was installed four years ago.

The camera on the south- bound carriageway where the road joins the A406 North Circular reached nationwide attention in 2003 when a national newspaper claimed it had generated £30m in revenue over two years.

That figure was hotly denied by transport bosses, who said the camera, between junctions four and five, had been put up for safety purposes.

However, figures obtained by Ilford North MP Lee Scott from the Department of Transport show that since it went live in May 2001, the stretch of road has become more dangerous.

In the 32 months before installation there were ten accidents, of which five were speed-related. In the 38 months after, the number of accidents jumped to 18, of which 11 were speed-related.

Transport minister Stephen Ladyman blamed increased traffic for the rise in accidents.

He said: "Although the number of speed-related accidents has increased since the installation of the camera, traffic flows have also significantly increased on this section of the M11.

"However, because there has been a significant growth in traffic over this period, the accident rate on this section has dropped overall, and is lower than the national average for a motorway."

Mr Scott said: "Now I thought that if you have more traffic you will have fewer accidents because people will be travelling more slowly. The big problem is that with a camera there people slow down and people hit them from behind."

The MP has pledged to track down accident figures for all cameras on major roads in his constituency. He said: "If these were making things safer I would be the first to applaud them, but they are not."

The camera has been decommissioned for the duration of roadworks at the site but two temporary replacements have been put up.