Bridge camera system explained

QUESTIONS over the effectiveness of ANPR cameras on Kirkcudbright bridge have re-emerged. Dozens of incidents of caravans, camper vans and trailers breaching weight and width restrictions have been recorded by members of the public. The bridge was closed suddenly last year due to serious structural concerns. Engineers eventually advised it could reopen with a three-tonne weight limit, width restrictions and a 20 mph speed limit. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras were installed to ensure restrictions were being adhered to, but residents are questioning their effectiveness. This week Mid Galloway and Wigtown West Cllr Jackie McCamon revealed that some offending vehicles are not being flagged by the ANPR. Explaining more, council officials said: “The ANPR cameras do pick up all vehicles that cross the bridge. However, the cameras only detect and record the plated weight of a vehicle from the DVLA database – for example a normal car towing a caravan would not necessarily be flagged automatically by the ANPR as the plate on the caravan would be the same as that of the car towing it, this is why members of the public reporting any obvious violations are helpful. “The council sifts through the data and identifies those vehicles which have clearly breached the 3T maximum gross weight limit and pass on those deemed non-compliant to Police Scotland. Complaints from members of the public are taken very seriously and they will then come to the council requesting associated ANPR data.” Officers stress that ‘non-compliance remains very low’, but they are looking into a system that can automatically identify caravans being towed.