A motorway speed camera caught 1,600 offenders in just one morning.

Commuters triggered the device on the M6 junction 17 in Sandbach, Cheshire, on Tuesday, March 10.

The speed limit has been lowered to 50mph on that stretch while roadworks are carried out.

NW Motorway Police tweeted:

The traffic officers received a flurry of replies about the sheer volume of drivers caught by the camera.

Chris @LoneChris responded: “They should be ticketed. Would these selfish drivers like it if someone came into their workplace and endangered their life?”

Sue Archer added: “Not surprised by numbers. 1 time on M60, we were only car obeying 50 limit, being overtaken by every other vehicle.”

Martin @cirrusbelow posted: “The signage is fine – I use the stretch regularly. It’s only a short stretch too so why the impatience?”

Paul @bikedogpablo : “Nobody disagrees with keeping the workers safe, it’s when there are no workers and the restrictions are still in place.”

With the minimum penalty for speeding £100, the morning's haul added a minimum of £160k to the government's coffers.

Each driver will also gain a minimum of three penalty points.