A TOTAL of seven motorists were caught breaking the law in a town in just one hour.

Police conducted traffic stops in Lewes on Monday, June 13, as part of Operation Downsway.

Officers caught five drivers not wearing a seatbelt, and a further two driving while using a mobile phone in a single hour.

A Lewes Police spokesman said the traffic stops were in response to a rise in crashes in the area.

“Officers from Lewes neighbourhood policing team completed traffic stops as part of Operation Downsway.

“This is Sussex Police’s response to road traffic collisions caused by the Fatal Five, which are the five biggest causes of incidents on the road leading to serious injury or fatality.

“Within an hour, officers issued five tickets for driving without a seat belt, and two tickets for driving while using a mobile phone.

“These offences make up two of the fatal five.”

The police spokesman also reminded the public that the penalty for using a mobile phone while driving is six penalty points on your license and a £200 fine.

At the start of April, Sussex Police launched Operation Downsway in an attempt to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured and to target antisocial and dangerous motorists.

Using a variety of tactics including the latest technology in automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and drones, Sussex Police aims to reduce the fatal five factors.

In the first two weekends of April, Roads Policing Unit officers responded and completed 108 traffic offence reports or conditional fixed penalty notices.

Eight arrests were made and a further 19 motorists were reported for summons.

Meanwhile, officers also issued 20 warnings for antisocial driving, while five vehicles were seized for either insurance or licence offences.

At the time, Superintendent James Collis added: “We know that the fatal five offences are the main factors that cause serious road traffic collisions.

“Which is why we simply will not tolerate the small minority of people who drive or ride anti-socially through the county, putting the safety of others at risk and therefore have a comprehensive plan to target those who do so.”