By Sarah Robinson

Last updated 15:56, Wednesday, 19 March 2008

POLICE officers and members of the fire service stopped 62 drivers and passengers for failing to wear a seatbelt while travelling on the A595 on Monday morning.

The checks took place as part of a driver enforcement and education day on the A595 at the Clintz roundabout.

Combined teams of police officers and members of Cumbria Fire and Rescue were on hand to stop drivers and passengers who were committing driving offences.

The checks were undertaken between 6am and 1pm. However, the event primarily targeted those travelling southbound towards Sellafield on the A595 between 6am and 8.30am because of the high volume of traffic.

During the event 99 people were caught committing driving offences. Out of that number, 62 people were not wearing seatbelts, 18 people were stopped for speeding and 11 for using a mobile phone whilst driving. Other offences included careless driving and driving with a defective tyre.

Those who committed offences were either issued with a fixed penalty notice or reported for summons.

The Cumbria Fire and Rescue service invited those who had committed an offence to participate in an educational exercise highlighting the dangers of their type of offending.

Police Sgt Bob Jackson said: “The operation was successful from an enforcement angle but extremely disappointing from a driver safety point of view.

“There appears to be a blatant disregard for the use of seatbelts by users of work vehicles.”

The police are planning similar operations in the future.