THE floodgates could finally open this week for thousands of drivers caught speeding on a road with no legally-enforceable limit to claim their money back.

Up to a dozen motorists who admitted breaking the 40mph limit on the A27 in and around Fareham will have their cases re-examined in court on Friday.

If they win it could be the decisive blow in the battle to force Hampshire's speed camera bosses to pay back thousands of fines handed out to motorists.

"These cases are very important," said Barry Culshaw, the solicitor representing the motorists.

"They are arguing a point of law that if successful, could open the floodgates and allow other motorists to appeal against their fixed penalty notices."

If District Judge Philip Gillibrand does allow the cases to be re-opened it will be an extremely rare event, as the law is complicated because they all previously pleaded guilty in court.

It is believed the courts have only made such a ruling in three cases before - one in Devon and the other two relating to different speed traps near Salisbury.

The new hearings come months after Judge Gillibrand himself threw out 14 similar cases because many of the signs indicating the speed limit on the busy road were not where they should be.

He found that simple errors in the way the signs were positioned at five sites between Titchfield and Cams Hill meant the speed limit was not enforceable in law.

After his ruling in October last year, legal experts said Hampshire's Safer Roads Partnership should pay back fines handed out to thousands of other motorists penalised on the same stretch of road.

Because the signs are known to have been defective for at least two years, with potential compensation claims on top, the bill could stretch into millions of pounds.

As revealed by the Daily Echo, although the county's Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan ordered enforcement to be suspended on the A27 in the wake of the ruling, he has insisted that no penalties will be revoked.

He is now the subject of an investigation by his own force after being made the subject of an official complaint over his handling of the affair.

Mr Culshaw has accused him of abusing his power by continuing to allow fines to be collected after the ruling threw the offences into doubt.

Although enforcement has been suspended while the signs are thoroughly reviewed, despite the partnership's initial insistence there was nothing wrong with them, mobile camera units have still been spotted by the side of the A27 in recent weeks.