The Government has voted to ban radar detectors that can detect mobile hidden speed cameras and laser guns; the new law will come into force next year, once the House of Lords gives final approval.

According to one supplier, weekly sales of the devices have risen by over 300% in recent weeks with motorists trying to beat the ban and the availability of the units.

At this time it is legal for a motorist to buy and use a radar detector to spot mobile speed cameras – when the new law comes into force, only GPS trap locators that cannot detect mobile speed traps, will be legal.

Over 2,500 mobile speed cameras operate throughout the UK and this figure is expected to rise once the radar detector ban takes effect.

In one five hour police shift, a mobile speed camera gave 329 motorists speeding tickets, an average of one every 58 seconds - raising almost £20,000.

In the Government debate to decide on the ban of radar detectors, Conservative MP, Christopher Chope, voted against the ban.

Chope who has been an outspoken critic of Labour policy on speed cameras says: “Train drivers receive an audible signal to back up their vision. If it’s good for train drivers why is it not appropriate for car drivers.”

David Jamieson, the Minister for road safety said in the debate: “Motorists would be able to detect the presence of the mobile cameras. That sounds like a recipe for helping those boy racers.”

A Mori Poll also found that a radar detector user is 28% less likely to have an accident than a non-user and most road accidents involve a motorist under 25 years old who are generally non-users of radar devices.

Last year around two million speeding tickets were issued – this year the figure is expected to reach three million. Nearly 11 million speeding tickets have been given since speed cameras were introduced in 1992. A third of motorists had points on their licence at the last count, and 286,186 motorists have lost their driving licences, most due to penalty points.