Money collected from speeding fines in Wales should be kept here in Wales, a county councillor has said.

Cllr Mabon ap Gwynfor, who represents Cynwyd/Llandrillo on Denbighshire County Council wants the cash to be used to help tackle road safety issues.

At the moment the money raised from the Welsh Government and Police and Crime Commissioners funded GoSafe partnership goes back to the Treasury in London.

But Cllr ap Gwynfor has called for this arrangement to stop and for the money to be kept in Wales.

He said:  “GoSafe does a good job at raising awareness and ensuring that those who break the law are penalised. However it’s wrong that the money raised from these fines goes into the Treasury’s central pot and used for their purposes.

“I’ve placed several freedom of information requests asking how much money has been paid in speeding fines in the police force areas of Wales, but they’ve been refused , claiming that it would be too costly to get a breakdown of the information.

“I refuse to believe this as each payment must be logged in a computer file, and it shows an unwillingness to be open.”

He added: “We have pressing road safety problems facing us here, and the Police are under resourced as it is. People’s lives are being put at risk because of continued austerity and the Government’s failure to properly fund our services. They should ensure that any money raised in Wales should return to Wales.”

Cllr ap Gwynfor has the backing of the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones, who said: “It is important to say that the fines don’t come back to the police but I would agree that fines levied in Wales should be used to make our roads safer.

“It should go to the Go Safe Partnership which is a partnership of the Welsh Government with Traffic Wales, the local authorities and the four regional police forces so then the money raised from fines would be spent in Wales through the Welsh Government.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Responsibility for operational policing matters rests with the Home Office. The money generated from police speeding fines applied in Wales contributes to the UK central fund from which the UK Government directly provides funding for policing in Wales and the Welsh Government’s funding block grant.”