A MILESTONE 10,000 illegal drivers have now been caught during Operation Steerside, an ongoing district-wide road safety crackdown by West Yorkshire Police.

Of the offences recorded since the campaign began in February last year, 3,634 have been for speeding.

Just over 3,550 motorists have been caught for failing to wear a seatbelt, 807 for mobile phone use and 796 for insurance breaches.

More than 1,200 drivers have also been reported for other unspecified offences, with 863 vehicles seized.

Sergeant Cameron Buchan, the officer leading the initiative, said: "It's a milestone figure, but it is just a number.

"This is one piece of work alongside everything else West Yorkshire Police are doing.

"If you were to count everything that is going on, we would have reached the 10,000th far earlier.

"Operation Steerside is about road safety, it's not about numbers. It's about the people of Bradford district feeling safe on the roads.

"We're just going out there and doing what we can."

He added that Steerside had tackled numerous incidents of dangerous driving where vehicles had failed to stop for police.

Officers were now working with the Crown Prosecution Service to contribute to a dossier of evidence to highlight the specific problem in the district, he said.

After initially targetting hotspot areas, the operation is now covering the whole Bradford district.

"It started off as identifying the areas that give us the most complaints but that was 16 months ago," said Sgt Buchan.

"Gradually it has evolved and we're now going where we think it's needed."

West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Mark Burns-Williamson, welcomed the success of the initiative.

He added that road safety was a priority in his Police and Crime Plan.