National Highways has apologised for the error which, it said, meant a “very small number” of motorists had been fined incorrectly since 2021.
It is understood a software update created a problem with variable speed cameras on 10% of A roads and motorways across the country.
This led to drivers being incorrectly detected as speeding after the speed limit had increased, but National Highways is now working to implement a solution to the problem as soon as possible.
We’ve now completed our planned overnight maintenance work updating roadside technology on smart motorways across the country.
You can keep up to date with roadworks by visiting: https://t.co/90XEjoUPPz pic.twitter.com/810FUChCEK
— National Highways (@NationalHways) December 7, 2025
The agency said it had identified around 2,650 incorrect camera activations, less than two per day.
But not all of those will have resulted in fines as camera activations are not always enforced, and the total amounts to less than 0.1% of the six million activations in the same period.
National Highways chief executive Nick Harris said: “Safety is our number one priority and we have developed a fix for this technical anomaly to maintain the highest levels of safety on these roads and make sure no one is wrongly prosecuted.”
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Anyone who has been incorrectly fined will be contacted directly by the police, the agency said, with fines reimbursed and any points removed from their licence.
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Police forces have temporarily stopped issuing fines from variable cameras until they have confidence nobody will be wrongly prosecuted, but continue to enforce speed limits in other ways.
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport commented: “We apologise to anyone who has been affected. Safety was never compromised, and we are working with policing to ensure nobody is incorrectly prosecuted in future.
“Enforcement is still in place, and the public can remain confident that only motorists who break the rules will be penalised.”
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A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs’ Council said police forces were working to identify and contact “a very limited number of motorists”.
They added: “Policing enforces a range of offences, including speeding, on the strategic road network through a number of tactics including mobile camera deployments, roads policing patrols and average speed sites. This remains unchanged.
“If you are affected by this issue, you will be contacted and details of the compensation scheme will be shared in due course. You do not need to take any action.”
