HUNDREDS of motorists will be spoken to by police over suspected driving offences after one of the biggest community speedwatch efforts in a single day in North Yorkshire.

Twenty groups of volunteers across the county, including in Hutton Rudby and Seamer, both near Stokesley, monitored driving in the communities they live in and detected 186 potential driving offences.

They were given support by the force's mobile safety camera vans, which recorded a further 349 offenders.

Truck overturns on A172

A full list of Community Speed Watch deployment locations was published on North Yorkshire Police’s website, the North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Police Traffic Bureau Facebook pages and shared with the media to make motorists aware of the locations in advance.

Jamie Smith, of North Yorkshire Police’s Traffic Bureau, said: “It’s disappointing that more than 500 motorists have been potentially caught speeding and committing other driving offences in a single day alone.

“Breaking the speed limit knocks seconds off the average journey but massively increases the risk of killing someone if you have a crash, especially in residential areas where there are a lot of pedestrians.

“Communities don’t like it, which is reflected in the record turn-out of Community Speed Watch groups last week.

“Along side other enforcement methods, it means we can help them make their communities safer."

During the day of action, on Tuesday, August 20, volunteers checked the speeds of almost 3,000 vehicles and 186 drivers will be sent warning letters after they were suspected of exceeding the speed limit.

The letters warn motorists that their details have been recorded by police and they could face police action if they are detected driving in a similar manner again. North Yorkshire Police’s safety camera vans recorded a further 349 offences. Motorists will be sent a legal notice for speeding or other driving offences, which starts formal legal proceedings.