In a further bid to reduce road traffic accident casualties, the Home Office has approved seven new locations in Pembrokeshire from which to monitor road speeds.

The cameras are housed in specially customised vehicles and when on duty have the speed camera logo painted on the rear of the vehicle.

The scheme is part of a Wales-wide initiative introduced last year.

The new designated sites, which will be operational from April, are at:

St. Lawrence Hill, Milford Haven; Priory Road, Milford Haven; A487 Eglwyswrw; A487 Newport; A487 Newgale; B4320 Hundleton; B4325 Neyland.

The seven locations all have a qualifying accident record for the past three years.

Speed monitoring already operates at the following locations:

A4139 Pembroke Dock; A4139 Pembroke; A4139 Tenby; A478 Llandissilio; A478 Pentlepoir; A4076 Steynton; A4076 Johnston; C3077 Haverfordwest; A4075 Carew.

Speed cameras are one of a number of measures being employed to reduce casualties on roads.

Figures for the Dyfed-Powys Police Force area show that in the first year of the speed camera scheme, 2002, there were 37 deaths in road accidents compared with 62 the previous year, a drop of almost 40 per cent.

The number of those seriously injured fell by 10 per cent last year to 486 as opposed to 545 in 2001.

"However, the fact remains that there are still a significant number of people being killed or injured on our roads," said Pembrokeshire County Council's director of transportation and environment, Huw Roberts.

"Speed is often a factor in accidents. The reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured is an indication, hopefully, that the scheme is contributing positively to road safety. We hope to see the downward trend continuing."