Cumbria Police catch 300 drivers in road offences crackdown

Cumbria Police speed camera vans were parked near schools

Nearly 300 drivers have been caught in a five-day police crackdown on speeding, and drink and drug driving.

Cumbria Constabulary's new roads policing unit (RPU) stopped 510 vehicles between 2 and 6 October.

Officers also caught drivers using mobile phones and not wearing seatbelts.

Insp Jack Stabler said the force was "targeting dangerous driver behaviour" and analysing data to identify roads with the most serious collisions.

"Every driver can help us to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads by making sure you are aware of the 'fatal four'," he said.

The term relates to speeding, drink and drug driving, not wearing seat belts, and using mobile phones while driving.

Other offences spotted by officers included driving through red lights, having defective tyres and driving without insurance, licence or MOT.

Speeding is one of what force calls the "fatal four" offences

The new RPU was launched earlier this month.

The force said it would have an additional 20 officers dedicated solely to roads policing, moving away from the previous dual role in where they were also firearms officers.

During the crackdown the unit put speed camera vans near schools to catch motorists driving too fast.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) also issued thousands of pounds of fixed penalty notices to drivers of vehicles that were overloaded or had defective brakes, or who had been on the road for longer than was permitted or safe.

Carlisle DVSA enforcement manager Mark Parish said the new unit's creation was "a significant step forward in helping protect the road users of this county from unsafe drivers and vehicles".

Cumbria police, fire and crime commissioner, Peter McCall, said those breaking the law would have to "face the consequences".