Vandalised Gatsos

Here's a closeup of the camera housing. It will now have to be replaced.

ooh, that looks painful

This is another Gatso near Nuneaton to be set alight. It has been covered up and awaits removal.

Another Gatso out of action

This Gatso on the A4091 near the Belfry has been completely destroyed and will have to be replaced.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso on the A446 is just a couple of miles from the one above and was set alight a month later.

Completely destroyed

This burnt Gatso is on the A48 at Caerwent in South Wales where the speed limit has recently been cut to 50mph. Smoke damage is everywhere and the side door has been forced open.

Burnt Gatso

This front view shows the damage clearly.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso on the A1 near Colsterworth has been torched then lowered to its death.

Burnt Gatso

This burnt Gatso is on the A1 at Elkesley.

Burnt Gatso

Here's a closeup of the camera housing showing the wreckage.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso on Wessex Way in Bournemouth has been burnt to death with part of the yellow paint melted away.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso in Barnsley has been well and truly baked.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso is on Doncaster Road in Barnsley. It's not as well baked as the previous one.

Burnt Gatso

This red light camera is on the A40 near Cheltenham, a road famous for having most of its Gatsos destroyed. A fire was started but it doesn't seem to have penetrated the metal casing.

Damaged red light camera

The next ten pictures were taken in one week when several Gatsos were set alight around Bristol.

This is a Gatso on fire on the A431. Although the quality of the picture is poor there are a few details that can been seen such as the red sign and the street name sign.

Burn baby burn

This is a daytime shot a few days afterwards. Contractors have been called out to remove the damaged camera. The red sign says new 30mph speed limit in force, possibly the reason why this camera was attacked.

Aftermath of the fire

This is a burnt out Gatso on the A4 towards Brislington.

Burnt out Gatso

This is another burnt camera on the A4 in Brislington. This one has suffered more severe damage.

Burnt Gatso

Yet another one on the A4, I wonder if there were any on this road that weren't set alight. This one is in Saltford.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso on the A37 near Chilcompton appears to have suffered minimal smoke damage.

Burnt Gatso

The front view shows this isn't the case. All the cameras that were burnt suffered only smoke damage to the rears, it was the fronts that got toasted.

Burnt Gatso

This closeup shows it was burnt to a crisp.

UPDATE - Like all vandalised Gatsos in the area it was replaced shortly afterwards but the new camera has since been blown up using dynamite, see below.

Burnt Gatso

This is the same Gatso again. Last year it was destroyed by fire.

Wrecked Gatso

This Gatso on the A37 at Temple Cloud has been scarred by fire.

Fire damaged Gatso

This is the same Gatso after it was set on fire again. On this occasion the fire also failed to take hold properly. In this picture you can see the 40mph limit in the background so this camera is just inside the 30mph limit.

Fire damaged Gatso

This is yet another picture of the same camera and this time the attack was successful and the damage is terrific.

Fire damaged Gatso

This is a closeup of the wreckage.

Wrecked beyond repair

This burnt Gatso is on the A37 at Ston Easton. Just about every camera on this road has been destroyed at some point.

Fire damaged Gatso

The damage to the rear of this Gatso on the A46 Batheaston Bypass is nothing compared to the front in the next picture.

Siting a Gatso here is asking for trouble

This is last of the Bristol cameras and I'll think you'll agree that I've saved the best till last. This front view of the Batheaston camera shows total devastation.

Its worth noting that this road has only been open a short time and had a 50mph limit from the start. It was claimed the low speed limit was necessary because of the sharp bend on the underpass. The fact that both Gatsos were placed well away from the bend proved they were there to extract revenue. The first picture shows a sign which is 1/2 mile from the junction and the bend, therefore the Gatso is around 3/4 mile from the hazard. The second Gatso was after the bend on a long straight which is totally unjustifed and as a result it was removed a long while ago and has never been replaced, whether it was removed officially or through vandalism is unclear.

This is the result of siting Gatsos for revenue

All the above cameras that suffered terminal damage would have been taken away and dumped somewhere. That place may be this yard near Bath. Here's a selection of Gatsos that are slowly rotting away.

Gatso Graveyard

Ooh, that looks painful.

Gatso Graveyard

Not much left inside here.

Gatso Graveyard

More decaying Gatsos left to turn to rust.

Gatso Graveyard

Two years on from when most of the above cameras were vandalised and they are still being set alight. This one is on the A4174 Ring Road at Filton and the pictures were taken by a passer by on a camera phone. The Gatso was repaired the following day.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso on the A432 was torched less than two months after the one above. The back has got away with little damage but the lens glass has cracked on the front.

Burnt Gatso

This burnt Gatso is near Port Talbot in South Wales. Once again the scene is one of total devastation.

Burnt Gatso

The front view shows the devastation cause by the fire.

Burnt Gatso

This burning Gatso is on the A223 near Bexley. Setting light to a petrol filled tyre is the favoured method of destroying them.

Burning Gatso

This burning Gatso in Dartford was captured on a camera phone.

Burning Gatso

This is the same camera after the flames went out.

Burnt out Gatso

This Gatso near Peterborough has been set alight. Unfortunately, the only damage seems to be smoke. The road goes down a hill but the camera can't be seen due to clever positioning. Its a shame there isn't the same amount of thought going in to genuine road safety improvements. Drivers come down this hill, possibly overtaking, and will see this camera just as they go under the bridge, they then have seconds to slow down before passing it. What sort of road safety is this?

Fire damaged Gatso

This Gatso near Huddersfield has been set alight, one of three on the same road. The temperature must have been intense judging by the colour. I wonder if the electrics inside were fried.

Fire damaged Gatso

This is another burnt out Gatso in West Yorkshire. The damage is extensive: the glass has shattered in the windows, the metal has buckled on the roof and so have the sides of the window containing the flash. To top it all off there is a sticker saying Free Country.

Burnt out Gatso

This burnt Gatso is on Bradford Road, Fartown near Huddersfield. The camera housing is completely destroyed.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso is on the A36 in Wiltshire at the top of a hill. Someone has put it out of action by torching it.

Another burnt out wreck of a Gatso

This Gatso on the A2 near Bexley has been well baked. The yellow backing is peeling off and the radar strip is exposed.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso near Manchester has been wrecked by fire which appears to have been started by using pieces of wood.

Another burnt out wreck of a Gatso

This is another burnt out Gatso. This one is on the A10 in Cambridgeshire.

Burnt out Gatso

This Gatso at Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire has been set alight.

Fire damaged Gatso

Here's a rear view of the damage.

Fire damaged Gatso

This Gatso in Aylesbury has been totally destroyed by fire.

Another wrecked Gatso

This Gatso on Tansey Green Road in Dudley was recently set alight. The strands of wire are from the tyre used to start the fire.

Another burnt out wreck of a Gatso

This is the same Gatso 18 months later and it has been burnt again, although not so badly this time.

Burnt Gatso

This is a rear view showing the remains of the tyre.

Burnt Gatso

The Tansey Green Gatso has now been attacked on three separate occasions. In this latest attack it was set alight and the back of the camera housing has been forced open.

Third time lucky

This is a front view showing the smoke damage.

Another burnt Gatso

This is a closeup of the innards. It looks to me like a dummy, unless someone has removed the film.

Another wrecked Gatso

This Gatso is also in Dudley and was torched a few nights after the first attack to the camera above. It is believed the same person or people were responsible.

Another burnt out wreck of a Gatso

This is the same Gatso two months later. The fire damage has been repaired but someone has now covered it in paint. Both the windows are covered so its unlikely to take decent pictures.

Another temporarily disabled Gatso

This is the same Gatso 18 months after the first attack. Another fire has been started using a tyre which has once again caused considerable damage. Just how many more times is this camera going to be targeted?

This Gatso has been attacked three times so far

This is the same Gatso yet again. This is now the fourth time its been attacked coming just two months since it was last torched.

Is this the most vandalised Gatso in Britain?

Here's another Gatso in Dudley thats been set alight. The remains of the tyre can be seen on the ground.

Burnt Gatso

Here's a closeup of the devastation. This one won't be fleecing motorists again.

Destroyed Gatso

This is the third Gatso in Dudley to be set alight in the space of a week. There is minimal damage to this one which suggests the attackers may have been disturbed.

Partially burnt Gatso

This Gatso in Rowley Regis is only a short distance from the one above and I guess the same people were responsible.

Burnt out Gatso

Here's a closeup of the camera housing. The innards are apparently beyond repair.

Burnt out Gatso

This burnt Gatso is on the A454 just outside Wolverhampton. It was attacked just weeks after those in nearby Dudley and the same people could have been responsible.

Another burnt Gatso

This burnt Gatso is on the A462 near Essington. The damage could have been more intense.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso on the A5 near Cannock was set alight at the same time as the one above. This one was more successful and the damage appears to be terminal.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso is on the A452 Chester Road in Streetly where the speed limit was cut from 40mph to 30mph a few years ago.

Burnt out Gatso

This Gatso is a short distance from the one above and was burnt a few weeks later. The speed limit on the A34 at this point has been reduced from 40mph to 30mph.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso on Broadway in Walsall got away with just minor damage. Had the fire taken hold it would have been burnt to a crisp. This is on another road where the speed limit has been cut.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso on the A45 near Coventry is now out of action following a fire which devastated it.

Burnt Gatso

This well baked Gatso is on the A45 near Birmingham Airport. The speed limit was 60mph until a few years ago when it was cut to 40mph.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso is on the nearby A34 at Shirley and this picture was taken a few weeks after the one above so both attacks may be linked. The damage is equally severe rendering the camera useless.

Burnt Gatso

This is a closeup of the wrecked camera housing. The damage is terminal.

Burnt Gatso

This Gatso is also on the A34 in Shirley, less than a mile from the one above. The camera housing has been deliberately forced to make it point towards the sky.

Damaged Gatso

This Gatso is on the A1073 at Cowbit in Lincolnshire. It has been well and truly gutted. The speed limit through the village used to be 40mph throughout but a small stretch near the camera was recently cut to 30mph.

Completely destroyed

This picture of a burnt Gatso on the A17 at Leadenham was taken on the same day as the one above. Being a short distance apart means the attacks may be connected.

This one got away with less damage

This Gatso is on the A52 just outside Grantham. A fire was started but failed to take hold. If it did the damage would have been impressive.

Burnt Gatso