Essex police today confirmed that they are investigating claims that thousands of speeding tickets issued are in fact invalid.

The reason for this is that the correct procedure was not followed invalidating the speeding tickets.

This opens the door for the speeding fines to be overturned and the points removed from the licence. This has proved too late for some motorists. We were contacted by Andy who said "I went to court because I had 9 points on my licence, stupidly I did not get a motoring solicitor to represent me. The magistrates gave me 4 points and disqualified me from driving for 6 months. This meant I lost my job as a delivery driver, this has had a huge effect on my family. It's all very well taking the points off my licence and refunding me the fine but that won't get my job back"

Motoring Solicitors have confirmed that applications could be made for compensation for loss of employment arising from this.

Should the procedure prove to be defective, the police could face a flood of claims from motorists who were convicted by magistrates of speeding since March 2007.

It would not apply to those motorists who were dealt with by post and paid the fine on receiving a Notice of Intended Prosecution by the police. Drivers who went on speed awareness courses would also not be covered.

Donna Veasey, a force spokesman, added: “We are currently looking into whether there is an issue with the Section 20 notices we have served. It should be stressed, even if this does prove to be an issue, it would only affect a proportion of cases where the person went to magistrates’ court since March 2007.”

This comes on the back of 2 other errors we discovered this week relating to thousands of speeding tickets in Dorset and Lancashire.

If you have been affected by this and want to make an application to have the points removed from your licence, speeding fine refunded or compensation apply at info@motoringlawyersonline.com and we will investigate your matter and advise you whether you have a claim.