A SPEED camera installed just days ago at the site of a hit-and-run death has been vandalised.

The lens of the camera, in Wigan Road, Deane, has been sprayed with white paint.

The camera was put up yards from the spot where Laura Entwistle, aged 44, was knocked down and killed in January.

The mother-of-two had been walking home from the Rumworth pub in the early hours of January 21.

She was hit by a speeding car, thought to be a Rover 200, 400 or Coupe, which did not stop.

Friends of Mrs Entwistle collected 300 signatures to have the speed camera installed.

Their case was supported by statistics from the Greater Manchester Casualty Reduction Partnership, which showed that between February, 2003, and January, 2006, there were 24 accidents on Wigan Road resulting in injury. These include one death and two people who were seriously injured.

The camera was due to go into operation on the 30mph road next month.

Cllr Andy Morgan, who represents the Hulton ward, where the accident took place, said: "This act is completely idiotic.

"A lady died here less than a year ago, and accident statistics have proved that there is a speed problem on that stretch of road.

"The camera is not there to mess motorists around, it has been put there because it is an accident blackspot.

"The rules for speed cameras have been tightened and it is there to protect the public, not to make money from motorists."

Anyone with information about Laura Entwistle's death should contact police on 0161 856 5740.