DRIVERS should be punished for going just 1mph over the speed limit, according to West Mercia Police's Chief Constable.

Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, the National Police Chiefs Council lead on road policing, has made national headlines after reportedly saying there should be an end to the 10 per cent "buffer" over the limit.

According to the Daily Mail, the West Mercia chief also said in a speech at the Police Federation Roads Policing Conference on Tuesday that speeding awareness courses were being used too widely instead of penalty points and fines, and drivers caught speeding should "not come whinging to us about" it.

In the speech the police chief, who returned to his 'home patch' of West Mercia in 2014, reportedly said: "Let's change the message - we are proud to be law enforcers.

"I do not want the public to be surprised, I want them to be embarrassed when they get caught - they need to understand the law is set at the limit for a reason.

"They should not come whinging to us about getting caught. If booked at 35 or 34 or 330 (in a 30mph zone) that cannot be unfair because they are breaking the law."

Current guidance suggests police forces should only issue penalties for drivers caught at 10 per cent plus 2mph over the limit - 35mph in a 30mph zone, for example.

Tory MP Sir Greg Knight warned against an "overly aggressive policy against drivers", telling the paper: "It will make criminals of motorists who are basically good drivers trying to obey the speed limit, while keeping an eye on the road."

A total of 1,710 people were killed on the roads in the year up to June 2017, according to the latest statistics.

Last year, figures obtained by the Press Association found 18 of 26 – or 69 per cent – fixed speed cameras in West Mercia were turned off, however a spokesman for the force's Safer Roads Partnership said this was not true, adding in fact 19 cameras were moved across 27 fixed sites.