A SPEED camera in Bury captured a motorist driving at 93mph in a 30mph zone.

The incident took place in 2009 and was recorded by a static camera in Bolton Road, near Powell Street, Elton.

The Bury Times used the Freedom of Information Act to ask Greater Manchester Police for the top speeds recorded by cameras anywhere in Bury in each of the past five years.

Four incidents happened on the same stretch of Bolton Road in the early hours of the morning.

In 2011, the camera snapped a motorist travelling at 91mph and, in the following year, the same camera caught a vehicle moving at 71mph.

Last year, the camera recorded a vehicle travelling at 75mph.

Elsewhere in the borough, a mobile camera set up in Ainsworth Road, Bury, in 2010, caught a car travelling at 84mph during the daytime.

Government statistics show four people have died in four separate road crashes in Bolton Road since 2001 and one person died in crash in Ainsworth Road in 2007.

Chairman of the Bury branch of the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), Jenny Garner, said: “These figures are astonishing. This is reckless behaviour putting lives at risk.

“It is unbelievable that one of the incidents took place during the day when more pedestrians, vehicles and hazards are likely to be present.”

Since 2009, the IAM has invited motorists to take a 12-week advanced driving course in exchange for lower insurance premiums but only three people have signed up.

Ms Garner said: “It’s frustrating that we are being given short shrift.

“Often, it is young drivers who are more likely to take risks and such courses aim to educate them. We would encourage more people to sign up.”

Chief Inspector Rachel Buckle, of Greater Manchesterv Police’s serious collision investigation unit, said: “Driving through a 30mph area at these kinds of speeds is incredibly dangerous, not only for the driver themselves but for other road users and pedestrians also.

“All too often, our officers attend collisions that could have been easily avoided had the driver slowed down and road users can be assured that we take speeding very seriously indeed.

“Some speeding offences are dealt with via fixed-penalty notices or speed-awareness courses but, in the instance of these serious incidents, the driver will have been summoned to court to explain their actions and dealt with accordingly.”