Road police in Surrey and Sussex said they had recorded almost 150 distracted driving offences in five days in January spent monitoring several motorways in the region.

In a statement on the findings published Wednesday (February 3), Surrey Police said that between January 18-22 a total of 126 vehicles were stopped and 147 offences identified on roads in Surrey and Sussex including the M25, M3, M23 and A23.

"Offences included driving whilst on a mobile phone, driving without due care, not being in proper control of a vehicle and driving on the hard shoulder, as well as seatbelt offences.

"Penalties and interventions included 74 Traffic Offence Reports and 21 Fixed Penalty Notices, as well as words of advice given to a number of drivers," a spokesperson said.

Several cases during the operation stood out in particular, including the arrest of a man not wearing his seatbelt who was wanted by West Midlands Police over a domestic assault charge.

Another lorry driver was stopped after officers saw him "reading a map book whilst driving up the A23".

One driver was further stopped for being on their phone and was then found to have no license or insurance.

She was subsequently arrested and reported to court, police said.

"Distractions of any kind cause collisions and people need to remember that when driving, that should be the sole focus, not chatting on the phone, fiddling with the radio or eating sandwiches," Sergeant Kellie Harris added.

"All these things take attention away from concentrating on driving and dealing with ever-changing hazards and if we see that any distraction is diverting attention and affecting driving, we will stop and deal with it.

"We want to make our road network as safe as possible and will seek to prosecute if we catch someone committing an offence".

Highways England meanwhile praised the operation.

Said Colin Evans, regional safety coordinator in the South East:

"There is no excuse for driving tired or driving an unsafe lorry or other vehicle, and we will not hesitate in taking action against those who flout the law on the Strategic Road Network.

"By working with the police and sharing intelligence we help make Britain’s roads even safer."