SPEED camera vans operating in North Yorkshire are to be painted more brightly - after complaints that they were not easy to spot.

All three of force's Mobile Safety Camera vans will now be kitted out in the same highly visible livery as other vehicles in the police fleet, including luminous green and blue block patterns.

The new look is the result of feedback from a member of the public, who contributed to a recent webchat hosted by Chief Constable Dave Jones.

Previously the vans were unmarked, barring an image of a speed camera on the side.

Since North Yorkshire Police began operating three mobile camera vans in April this year, they have issued 23,595 tickets, roughly 134 a day.

Of the tickets issued, more than 19,600 drivers have opted to take a Speed Awareness Course and more than 2,600 have been given fixed penalties.

Almost 440 have been reported for summons to court.

Police and road safety experts made tackling speed a key part of their response to the large number of deaths on the roads this year.

At the beginning of August, there had been 31 fatal road accidents in all forms of motor vehicles - a figure that matches the total for the whole of 2012.

More than 12 motorcyclists have also been killed in the county this year.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Kennedy, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “Making the roads as safe as possible across our area is a key priority for North Yorkshire Police and the ‘95 Alive’ York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership.

“The Mobile Safety Camera vans mean that we have the flexibility to locate the cameras in the right place at the right time, reacting to the latest intelligence about driver and rider behaviour and feedback from the public.

“Speed has been shown to be a significant contributory factor in collisions where people are killed or seriously injured.”

ACC Kennedy added that as well as making the vans more visible, North Yorkshire Police already publicised the roads covered by the vans each week on their website, Facebook and Twitter accounts and through the media.

The camera vans are self-funding with the running costs paid for through the levies generated by speed awareness course fees.

Any excess levies go back into road safety projects.

For more information about the Mobile Safety Camera vans or view the routes they cover, visit www.northyorkshire.police.uk/safetycamera.