From today, there will be a harsher punishment if you get caught speeding.

You could be fined 150 per cent of your weekly earnings, up to a maximum of £2,500.

At the moment, a common fine is £100 so things are about to get much tougher.

The top level fine will be for people driving on the motorway, where the risks are most severe.

Those who drive above the speed limit elsewhere could be fined £1,000.

Here’s the details of how much people could be fined – things get worse the further above the limit you go, with Band C being the harshest punishment.

The Sentencing Council introduced the change because it felt the current punishments do not reflect the ‘potential harm’ that speeding can do.

Borehamwood Times:

Sentencing guidelines are set out in the table above but magistrates will have the ability to adjust what punishment is dealt based on ‘aggravating factors’ including previous convictions and weather conditions.

In 2015, 166,695 people in England and Wales were sentenced for speeding with the average fine £188.

Speeding is amongst a number of crimes to see tougher or alternative sentencing guidelines introduced including animal cruelty and TV licence evasion.