VANDALS have destroyed a brand-new speed camera on a road judged to be the second most dangerous in Britain.

Police do not know whether the vigilante group MAD (Motorists Against Detection) is behind the latest attack on a camera on the A534 at Bulkeley.

The road was recently named by the AA Motoring Trust as the second most dangerous road in the UK after the A537 Macclesfield to Buxton road.

This is the fifth such incident since April this year with police and residents furious. Three people were seriously injured or killed on the stretch between 1998 and 2000.

Jon Chantler, landlord of the Bickerton Poacher pub adjacent to the camera site, says are accidents are bad news for the community and his business.

He said: 'Someone put a tyre round it having filled it up with oil and petrol and then set it on fire. It had only been up three days. Now it's just an empty box.

'I'm keen to see traffic slowed down on this road. Whoever has done this is stupid. I just think they heard about other people setting fire to speed cameras. 'I've been angling for speed control on this road for many years. There are lots of accidents. It's no exaggeration to say there's an accident within a mile-and-a-half of us most weeks of the year.'

Mr Chantler believes it is the combination of a 60mph speed limit, slippery road surfaces and lots of bends, some of which have adverse cambers, that lead to the collisions. He would be in favour of a reduction to 40mph.

The Chronicle has discovered motorcycle clubs use the road as a regular route. Mr Chantler says it is regarded as the 'closest experience to a race track'.

Lee Murphy, project manager for the Cheshire Safety Camera Partnership, said: 'Five safety camera sites have been vandalised since April 2003.

'Every day that a camera is inactive is a day lost in the fight to reduce death and serious injury on our roads. The cost and time implications of replacing a damaged camera or reinstating it to full working capacity varies depending on the equipment used.' Cheshire Safety Camera Part-nership includes Cheshire Constabulary, local councils, the Highways Agency, Cheshire Magistrates Service, the Crown Prosecution Service and the regional health Trusts. About 3,500 people are killed and a further 37,000 seriously injured in the UK every year as a result of road traffic collisions.

Last year 71 people died on Cheshire's roads.

A recent report confirmed a 35% reduction in people killed or seriously injured at camera sites, compared to the long term trend. Safety cameras in Cheshire are located at 66 sites with a history of collisions.

The Cheshire Safety Camera Partnership denies cameras are a money-making scheme. Under rules set out by the Department for Transport (DFT) the part-nership can claim back the costs for running the scheme, but not a single penny more.

A full list of safety camera locations and collision data, as well as a weekly schedule of the areas to be visited by the mobile enforcement team, can be found on the Partnership's website: www.cheshiresafecam.org.uk.