The French Government says a rise in the number of people killed on the country’s roads is down to a campaign of destruction of speed cameras which has seen three quarters put out of use.

TheLocal.fr reports that French Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner says there is a direct link between the increase in road deaths in January and the vandalism of speed cameras

“There are radars that are hidden,” he said. “They do not take photographs, there don’t record minutes, but they continue to record the speed. In December, on average, there were four times more violations on a masked radar when it is operating… and in the end people die.”

The report adds that in January, 238 people died on French roads, an increase of nine deaths compared to January 2018 when 229 people were killed, according to figures from the Road Safety Authority.

The vandalism had already begun last summer when the speed limit on most country roads was reduced to 80 km/h , but escalated when the “yellow vest” protests kicked off in late November.