A camera to catch drivers who jump red lights will be turned on next week on a ring road.

The enforcement camera in Barbara Castle Way, Blackburn, will snap anyone trying to jump a red light or speed up to avoid them.

The camera will go live on Monday and is the first camera of its kind in Lancashire.

Council bosses say the new kit allows for enforcement of speed offences, as well as red light running which is a common cause of collisions, especially at junctions.

The junction, at the major junction with Preston New Road, has a poor history of road safety with 18 collisions happened there between 2016 and 2020, including a fatal one.

Safer roads manager for Lancashire Constabulary, Lara Jones, said: “Sadly our officers have attended numerous incidents around this junction, including the fatal collision in 2016.

“Unfortunately having reviewed the footage recorded during the trial phase and more recently whilst testing the new system it is clear many drivers continue to ignore the traffic signals and proceed when the lights have clearly changed to red or more often speed up in an effort to beat the red light.”

Blackburn with Darwen’s assistant executive member for growth and development Cllr Zainab Rawat said: “This innovative camera technology will be a fantastic tool to help us make the roads safer for everyone in our borough.

“Driving through red lights is always a dangerous manoeuvre and this camera will help to penalise drivers who think it is a clever thing to do.

“Hopefully we will be in a position soon where we can roll out more of these and make our roads even safer.”

The innovative camera can be installed without digging up roads, is independent of traffic signals, which means less maintenance costs.

The unit also has the lowest energy usage available, reducing the borough’s carbon costs which supports BwD Council’s climate emergency goal to be net carbon neutral by 2030.

Using the camera, traffic can be monitored remotely and offences prosecuted via a single device to increase road safety and reduce collisions.

In the UK, over 67,000 motorists were given points for failing to stop at traffic lights in 2015.