A WEEK-LONG crackdown on speeding drivers will take place across Cleveland and Durham from Monday.

Officers will raise awareness by highlighting the risks of speeding to drivers and encourage them to obey speed limits and drive at speeds safe for the road environment in order to help prevent fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.

Between April 1, 2017 and March 31this year, 20,871 speeding offences were detected across Cleveland and Durham force areas.

Chief Inspector Graham Milne, from the Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit, said: “In roads policing we see speeding drivers put lives at risk on our roads every single day.

“Speeding shows disregard for the law and a lack of consideration for the safety of others which cannot be tolerated.

"As part of our jobs we see the devastation left behind when someone is killed or serious injured by a speeding driver, and it is heartbreaking seeing those families having to try to come to terms with something that could have been so easily avoided.”

Updates can be followed on Twitter at @saferjourney.