POLICE are continuing their crackdown on dangerous motorists as part of the No Excuse campaign with warnings to drivers in the New Year as important as ever.

Over the last two months, Dorset Police's No Excuse team have been tackling careless and dangerous driving with operations around West Dorset.

A number of drivers were stopped in Bridport on December 30 for speeding or using a mobile phone while at the wheel when morning driving conditions were particularly icy across West Dorset.

The Bridport and Lyme Regis News once again joined the team on patrol around Bridport and surrounding areas recently, led by PCs Simon Hatch and Jason Cartridge.

Sgt Stuart Pitman also accompanied the team monitoring passing vehicles in a safety camera van.

In response to the number of crashes on the county's roads in 2014, Dorset Police's No Excuse campaign now has a dedicated full-time team educating drivers to become safer motorists and responding to resident complaints.

During the operation, a man driving a Renault van in West Allington was stopped by police shortly after 11am for using a mobile phone while driving.

The holidaymaker, who will undergo a driver education course as opposed to points on his licence, told The News that being stopped by police was a 'wake-up call' and using his mobile was a 'silly mistake'.

PC Cartridge added: “The driver told us he was texting on his mobile phone organising a night out for that evening, but there were nearby pedestrians that could have been seriously hurt due to his actions.”

And just 40 minutes later, a man driving a black Audi A5 was pulled over in East Road, Bridport for also using a mobile while driving.

The man had two other passengers in the car and received three points on his licence and a £100 fine because he had already been on a driving education course within the last three years.

He told The News: “I was actually turning my phone off because it was ringing. Regardless of this I will definitely drive more carefully in the future.”

A black Range Rover was found to have no MOT by the No Excuse team and the vehicle was pulled over after the driver was seen on his mobile while driving with his wife and children in the car.

The man will now undergo a driving awareness course.

PC Cartridge said: “If you are driving at 30mph every second you drive approximately 70 feet - with a stopping distance of 23 metres.

“That therefore means if you have been on your mobile phone while driving, even just for two seconds, you would have been driving without paying attention to your surroundings for at least 140 metres. That is a very scary thought.”

The team have been tackling the 'fatal five', which are drink and drug driving; excessive and inappropriate speed; not wearing a seatbelt; driver distractions such as hand-held mobile phones; and careless driving.

Sgt Pitman said: “The No Excuse campaign has been running for just over two months and in that time we have dealt with 1,500 motorists county wide, seized 60 vehicles for no insurance or no licence and have referred approximately 900 people for driving awareness courses.

“Overall in West Dorset there has been an improvement in people's standards of driving in the last two months.

“But the message really is that we will not be going away. We have got a full time No Excuse team going out into the county more and more on their own, supported further by police staff and special constables.”

People are encouraged to engage with the No Excuse team on Twitter @DorsetNoExcuse or on Facebook, and help spread the message of the operation.