RECKLESS drivers on Hampshire’s roads have been caught hitting speeds as high at 122mph, it has been revealed.

Shocking figures show that 122mph was the top speed recorded by the county’s speed cameras by a driver racing along the A31, which runs through the New Forest.

Other irresponsible drivers putting lives at risk were clocked smashing speed limits across the county, including one who was snared driving more than 70mph through Southampton city centre.

Road safety campaigners have urged for more speed cameras to be used in speeding hot spots, as well as tougher punishments for those who continue to ignore the legal limits.

Hampshire Police released the five fastest speeds recorded by speeds cameras between April 2013 and May this year.

Topping the chart was a driver hitting 122mph along the A31, which has a speed limit of 70mph, with another clocking 110mph on the speed dial on the A34, another 70mph road which run through the north of Winchester.

The A33 in Southampton recorded two of the top five speeds, with one motorists driving through the 50mph zone at 97mph and another hitting 73mph where the road has a 30mph limit.

The fifth fastest speed was picked up on the A3024 in Southampton, where a driver was caught doing 70mph instead of the 30mph limit.

This is the site of a notorious speed camera, where motorists have coughed up more than £1.3m in the past three years.

The Daily Echo revealed last August how the camera, on the A3024 Maybray King Way near Bitterne centre, trapped 21,792 drivers since 2010.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists obtained the figures through a Freedom of Information request, which revealed the highest speed recorded in the UK was 149mph by a motorist on the M25 in Kent.

Peter Rodger, head of driving standards at the road safety charity, said the results proved that drivers were clearly not getting the message that speeding kills and urged for more speed cameras in black spots, plus tougher punishments.

He added: “We need to make people think they’re not going to get away with it.

“It’s dangerous and irresponsible and it’s risking the lives of both themselves and all the people around them.

“Emergency services spend a fortune to cope with driving at these speeds and the average person doesn’t have that kind of training.”

A Hampshire Police spokesman said it dedicated a large amount of officer time to speed prevention focusing on education and enforcement.

She added: “Our message is very simple - speeding kills. You put yourself and other road users at risk.

“Driving at such excessive speeds as given in your examples is absolutely unacceptable and you will be prosecuted to the full strength of the laws available to us.”