POLICE stopped almost 50 drivers in a roadside check in south Oxfordshire today.

The check was also timed to coincide with the one year anniversary since using a mobile phone behind the wheel became an endorsable offence. It became an offence in December 2003 to use a mobile phone while driving.

Last February, the penalties for using a mobile phone when behind the wheel was increased from a £30 fine, to a £60 fine and three points.

Road safety constable Mark Pilling, supported by officers from roads policing, and road safety officers from Oxfordshire County Council, were on Fairmile, Henley, between 8am and 10am stopping drivers using mobile phones or not wearing their seatbelt.

A total of 28 people were issued Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for not wearing their seatbelts, 20 drivers and eight passengers. They all opted to receive roadside education from the council safety officers and their ticket was cancelled. One man was also stopped for reading a newspaper while driving.

Eighteen drivers were stopped for using their mobile phone behind the wheel. They were issued with fixed penalties of £60 and three points, but were all offered the chance to attend a Call Divert workshop at a later date at a cost of £74.

PC Mark Pilling, road safety constable for Oxfordshire, said: "It is frightening that in just under two hours on one stretch of road, 18 drivers were using their mobile phone and 28 were travelling without their seatbelt.

"Drivers know it is illegal to use their phones and these laws are there for a reason; tests show that reaction times of drivers using a hand held phone were nearly 50 per cent slower than normal.

"The message does not seem to be getting through to drivers that mobile phones are a big distraction and all their attention needs to be focused on driving, not using their phone, and I hope this check, and others like them, re-enforce this important road safety message."