Motorists will soon face prosecution when caught breaking driving laws on CCTV.

Sutton Council intends to step up its fight against motorists who flout driving and parking laws by using more than 80 CCTV cameras it has stationed around the borough to catch law-breaking motorists.

Enforcement was previously done by the police, but has stopped in recent years.

The council is also looking at bringing a third CCTV car into use by Sutton's parking service to enforce moving traffic offences.

As the council's executive approved the plans on Tuesday, councillors denied the increased enforcement was a "cash cow" to raise revenue for the council's parking service, that has faced financial difficulty in recent years.

This year's budget described a deficit on the on-street parking account in 2011-12, and a £516,000 forecasted shortfall last year in off-street parking income.

Councillor Simon Wales said: "Responsible drivers will not notice any difference at all.

"This is not aimed at catching people out or making money through tickets - the council is simply taking over responsibility for traffic offences which used to be covered by the police."

A council report states the scheme is expected to be "cost neutral", in paying £25,000 a year for a CCTV operator to monitor the traffic.

Tim Crowley, deputy leader of the Conservative opposition, said he had calculated for the CCTV operator to bring in only £25,000 a year in tickets, he would have to adminster just over one a day, and it was disingenuous to suggest more tickets than that would not be given to motorists.

Coun Wales added: "Most other London boroughs have already done this very successfully, which is why this plan has cross-party support and backing from Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

"We’ll be using the existing enforcement car to help make Sutton a safer and easier place to drive.

"These rules are in place for a reason, and making sure that drivers stick to traffic regulations will help to boost road safety and cut congestion.

"As well as making the borough’s roads safer for motorists, cracking down on bad drivers will help those who want to use public transport, cycle or walk, by making sure that everyone who uses the roads does so responsibly.

"We’ll be able to work with local committees to find out about accident blackspots or congested areas that residents want us to help with and give power for traffic control back to local people.

"We will be publicising this change of responsibility through the parking user panel and on the website."