POLICE issued 26 tickets to motorists for a range of offences in Honiton during a high profile safety campaign.

POLICE issued 26 tickets to motorists for a range of offences in Honiton during a high profile safety campaign.

The town's entire Nieghbourhood Beat Team, comprising eight officers, took to the streets last Wednesday - in response to residents' concerns.

It was the first in a series of planned action days.

"It was purely a road safety campaign," said Sergeant Martin Burrow. "People are telling us they have got an issue and we are responding.

"We were in the High Street early on in the day, looking to identify drivers using mobile phones and not wearing seatbelts. This was to pass on the road safety message."

Sergeant Burrow said the initiative gave the public an opportunity to speak to officers. He was pleased with the public's response, saying officers received no negative comments - not even from the motorists they stopped.

Speed checks were then carried out on the A373 at Awliscombe and on the A35 in Kings Road, Honiton.

"We issued 26 tickets," said Sergeant Burrow. "Twenty-three of them were to motorists who weren't wearing seatbelts, two were for speeding and one for using a mobile phone while driving.

"There is good and bad in that.

"It just shows how many people are ignoring the regulations and putting themselves and others at risk.