A FULL upgrade of Merseyside’s speed camera network would cost £4.5m, it was revealed yesterday at a crunch Liverpool Council meeting to decide its future.

Without an upgrade, the network would have to be switched off in the next few years because the ageing cameras are reaching the end of their useful life.

Yesterday, councillors agreed to investigate upgrading some of the cameras as a full upgrade would be too expensive for cash-strapped local authorities to fund.

But councillors said they had not yet been given enough details before they could agree to sign off the spending.

Dave Foulkes, manager of the Merseyside road safety partnership, has been tasked with drawing up the financial details.

At a meeting of the Merseyside strategic transport committee, councillors hit out at government cuts that saw £400,000 slashed from the budget that pays for speed cameras.

Committee chairman Cllr Malcolm Kennedy said road safety was a priority and local authorities should continue to work together to tackle the issue. We are moving to establish an agreement and a way forward.

“This is a really important issue for people, we have to do all we can to minimise deaths and injuries on the roads.”