FURIOUS motorists have criticised Essex County Council for refusing to say why the A127’s new £1.2million average speed cameras are not working properly.

Yesterday the Echo reported the council had not issued any tickets since the controversial cameras were introduced a month ago.

Speed Check Services, the company which installed the cameras, said the problem was not to do with the cameras.

But, Norman Hume, county councillor responsible for highways, has now said the cameras were at fault. He said: “There have been some minor technical issues with some individual cameras.”

Mr Hume refused to say what the problems were to the frustration of drivers using the road.

Motorists have said the latest problems undermined the whole project.

Trevor Izard, 36, from Southend, who has organised petitions against the speed cameras, said: “If they can’t get the cameras to work and can’t prove someone has broken the speed limit, can they be relied on?”

Furious cabbie Anthony Gower, 59, of Acacia Drive, Thorpe Bay, said: “This just adds to the whole fiasco.

“It’s nonsense and its symptomatic of everything in this country where you have people in positions of power who are can’t admit they’re wrong.”

But while Mr Hume refused to elaborate on what the “technical problems” were, he said the project was proving a success. He said: “We have already seen improvements in drivers’ behaviour as a result of this scheme.”