EYES will be on drivers across Hertfordshire as county councillors agreed to introduce high-tech cameras which will help check road users’ legality.

The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems will primarily be used by the county council to survey traffic flow.

However, in one location – the Moor Lane bus link in Hemel Hempstead – the ANPR will also be installed as a trial for bus lane enforcement.

“This is primarily a tool for understanding traffic flows,” said Cllr Stuart Pile, executive member for highways and transport.

“The cameras will be used to check how traffic moves on and between main routes, which will ultimately help us identify areas where we need to make improvements to the roads to ease congestion and improve journey times.

“By checking actual journey times [which is done without the county council having any access to information about individual drivers], the council’s engineers can establish which solutions to congestion are most needed and most likely to help people travel around Hertfordshire.”

The decision to install the cameras over the next two years was unanimously backed last week by the council’s cross-party highways and transport panel, and approved at a cabinet meeting on Monday.