95 of the market-leading in car speed enforcement systems have just landed in Italy from the Gateshead factory, where they will be fitted to the specialist Italian Carabinieri traffic cars. The order also brings the total number of ProVida systems now actively patrolling Italian roads to almost one thousand.

Renzo Schettini, Channel Manager for Petards said: "Gaining this order is excellent news for Petards and shows the international strength of the ProVida brand. When the Carabinieri were looking for a supplier, the capability and ease of use of our system was key - as was the experience we have in international markets."

ProVida can claim to be the world's best selling in-car police surveillance tool with over 70% of the UK's police forces actively using the system. The brand has also now stretched to over 20 countries as diverse as Germany and Sweden to Hong Kong and South Africa.

While the Italian systems will use only the surveillance and speed measurement tools, ProVida, can also be seamlessly combined with ANPR cameras (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) to allow police officers to automatically monitor vehicles and be alerted (via numerous databases) to those recorded as stolen or with no valid road tax.

Bill Conn CEO of Petards Group plc was also delighted with the success of the Italian project stating: "While historically the UK has lead the way in surveillance, speed measurement and ANPR, the rest of the world are rapidly catching up and are understanding the long term benefits of systems like ProVida. We have seen real growth in opportunities overseas and expect this to develop even faster in the coming years."