David Ruffley said: 'New figures reveal the 'war on motorists' has bagged nearly 1 billion pounds for the Treasury since 1997. By means of a written Parliamentary Question, I have discovered that 17,112,980 fixed penalty notices have been issued to motorists in England and Wales for speeding since 1997.

Since 1997 there were 311,523 fixed penalty notices issued in Suffolk. This cost motorists in Suffolk the huge sum of £17,924,200. In 1997, there were 7,271 offences raising £290,840. In 2009, there were 42,055 offences raising £2,523,300.

The latest year for which figures are available (2009- but just published in May 2011) show that a total of 1,136,022 fixed penalty notices were issued raising a total of £68,161,320. The South East region led the way, accumulating 169,220 fixed penalty notices. Our East of England region followed closely behind with 159, 366 fixed penalty notices.

The previous Government treated the British motorist like a massive cashpoint machine on wheels. It presided over a massive increase in speed cameras. It also increased the level of fines from £40 to £60 in 2000.'