ROAD safety chiefs are set to hold crunch talks on whether to scrap speed cameras in and around Chester.
A decision whether to decommission speed cameras across the city is set to be made shortly following a budget review.
Following Coalition Government cuts, Cheshire Road Safety Partnership (CRSP) is currently reviewing its budget in an effort to save money.
Last week Oxfordshire Council cut £600,000 from their road safety budget - money which would have been given to the Thames Valley Road Safety Partnership.
The cuts meant that 72 fixed and 89 mobile camera locations will now withdraw from Oxfordshire by the end of the month.
CRSP manager Lee Murphy said that the future of 12 speed cameras currently operating across Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston is undecided, but confirmed that they would continue to operate "as usual" until a decision is made.
From July 2009 to June this year the 12 cameras caught 4,666 speeding motorists who were issued with a notice of intended prosecution (NIP) by CRSP.
Fears have been raised that if the speed cameras were decommissioned, that pedestrians and other road users could be left seriously at risk.
Mr Murphy said: "CRSP has helped to significantly reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads. We have seen an exceptional 73 per cent reduction in these types of casualties at the 12 fixed camera sites in Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston since the safety cameras were put in place."
The partnership, which began operations in 2003, has also been involved in helping to roll out broader road safety initiatives.
The results of their work has seen casualties in Cheshire West and Chester as a whole fall by almost 30 per cent in three years.
Mr Murphy added: "We are making a huge difference and we are saving lives. Clearly) any reductions in budget will have an adverse impact on all our road safety campaigns and initiatives, including education programmes, engineering and the work we do with local communities, schools and children. The serious concern is we will see the number of deaths and casualties on our roads rise.”