Full information about speed cameras will be published by local authorities and the police for the first time in a government attempt to increase transparency.

The details will include not only information about camera positions but also data about accident rates and casualties at camera sites - both before and after cameras were installed. Vehicle speeds and the numbers of motorists prosecuted or given the new speed awareness training after offences recorded by cameras will be reported too.

By showing data back to 1990 local authorities will have to disclose then which cameras are truly saving lives and which others are just there to make money: a clear achievement for drivers.

"We want to improve accountability and make sure that the public is able to make informed judgements about the decisions made on their behalf. So if taxpayers' money is being spent on speed cameras then it is right that information about their effectiveness is available to the public," Road Safety Minister Mike Penning said.

"That is why we want full details of accidents and casualties at camera sites, along with the number of offences arising from each camera, to be easily accessible. This will help to show what impact cameras are having on road safety and also how the police are dealing with offenders," he added.

About 6,000 cameras have appeared in Britain since being introduced in 1992, estimated to be making £100 million a year in fines.

Philip Gomm, from the RAC Foundation said: "Road safety policy should be based on facts and analysis, not rumour and headlines. Where cameras are doing a good job then they should be kept."

Information about speed cameras has been suppressed from publication until now by exemptions within the UK Freedom of Information Act (2000).

An act that, on the other hand, specifies that any information held by public authorities should be made freely available to any member of the public who requests it, unless it contains data that threatens privacy, national security or other classifications.

The Highways Agency will publish site by site information for permanent fixed camera sites on its network or provide links to what local authorities are publishing.

Police forces are to publish the number of prosecutions arising from each permanent or long term temporary fixed camera site in their area each year, along with the total number of offences recorded by all cameras and the total numbers of offenders.