The total number of court cases fell

Traffic figures released on Tuesday showed a 9% rise in speeding offences last year, while the total number of offences recorded by the police fell by 2% in 1999 to 353,400.

Police issued 168,000 fixed penalty notices for moving vehicle offences, an increase of 8% on 1998. Almost two thirds of these related to speeding.

A total of 296,400 fixed penalty notices were issued by police and traffic wardens on parked cars, 64% of which were for parking and waiting offences and 25% for failing to display a road tax disk.

In addition, almost 230,000 penalty charge notices were issued in Edinburgh and Glasgow for parking infringements.

The criminal proceedings figures showed that the number of court cases fell 8% to 146,800.

Community service

A total of 127,400 (87%) of those brought to court were convicted, of whom 13% received a custodial sentence.

More than three quarters of these sentences were for a period of six months or less.

One in 10 people convicted received community service or probation, while two-thirds received a fine as their main penalty - compared with more than three quarters in 1998.

The average fine imposed was �182.

Of the 45,000 individuals convicted at least once in 1999, 45% had at least one other such conviction in the previous 10 years. Seventeen per cent had more than 10 convictions.