Cameras give jambusters a clearer picture

A SCHEME to install cameras which track car number plates in a bid to ease Edinburgh's traffic jams is nearing completion.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras - which are used in London to collect the congestion charge - will be positioned at 62 points around the city to track traffic flow.

Officials today said around 90 per cent of the cameras are in place with the rest to follow in the coming weeks. The cameras snap vehicle number plates and a computer works out what route the vehicle is taking and how long it takes by reading the plate every time it passes a camera.

The information will allow transport chiefs to alter traffic lights according to where bottle-necks appear during peak times, when there are special events or there has been an accident.

The 600,000 system will eventually feed messages on to signs to be placed by the main routes into Edinburgh to tell drivers how long journeys to key destinations in the city are expected to take.

Council officials say there will be no permanent record of the number plates photographed.