A single speed camera has been responsible for £5million worth of fines, after catching more than 300 drivers a week for three years.

The camera patrols a stretch of dual carriageway in Southampton where the limit is 30pmh, and has issued 51,049 tickets between the start of 2015 and the end of 2017.

AA president Edmund King said: "A 30mph road generating the highest number of speed camera activations in England and Wales is astonishing.

"However, the Department for Transport acknowledges that speed limits should be evidence-led and it may be that the dualling of the A3024 at that point means many think it has a higher limit. It would be interesting to see how many offenders are new visitors to Southampton."

Britain's busiest speed cameras

• 51,049 fines – A3024 Maybray King Way, Southampton
• 38,836 fines – M62 westbound, Junctions 20 and 19, Manchester
• 38,729 fines – A282 Dartford-Thurrock Crossing, Essex
• 37,950 fines – A217 Southend Arterial Road, Essex
• 36,753 fines – A12 near Stratford St Mary, Suffolk
• 35,884 fines – North Road, Cardiff
• 30,835 fines – A1 Barrowby Thorns, Lincolnshire
• 27,942 fines – A45 Ryton Bridge Flyover, near Coventry
• 26,810 fines – M11 near Luxborough Lane Road, Chigwell, Essex
• 25,548 fines – M4 Port Talbot, south Wales

The AA's King added: "The other section of road that jumps out is the number of activations at the Dartford Crossing.

"With a major incident capable of jamming the road network across the south east of England, the number of speeders chancing their arm makes you sit up.

"There again, how many are drivers racing to get through the crossing before the Dart Charge comes into force daily?

"Perhaps if the toll was abolished, as it was supposed to be after the project was paid for, there would be fewer vehicles speeding."

Hugh Bladon, founder o f the Alliance of British Drivers, said: "If a lot of people are being caught it may be that the speed limit on that road is ridiculously low."

He added: "The speed limit needs to be reassessed to see what the normal speed of the road is. The limit should be set at the speed that 85% of drivers take the road at.

"It is not uncommon that limits are lowered due to an accident, but it doesn't mean that the speed drivers are driving can be classed as unsafe."

What to do if you've been caught out

If you've been hit by an automated fine – even if there's photo evidence proving you strayed into a bus lane – that doesn't mean you have to accept it.

"If you've received what you feel to be an unfair ticket, then your first response should be to appeal to the issuing authority (TfL in London or Local Authority elsewhere in the UK),” James Walker – founder of free customer complaints service Resolver.co.uk – told Mirror Money .

"You should also research the official grounds for appeal for your particular case – if you can cite an 'approved' reason for challenging the fine you'll stand a much greater chance of a successful appeal.

“If your appeal is rejected by the issuing authority, you can appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (or Patas in London)"

You can find out more about appealing bus lane fines outside London here or the London appeals form here .

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