A blitz aimed at deterring drivers who use mobile phones on the move or fail to belt up enters its final phase in Medway next week.

Scores of motorists have been caught on camera committing these offences.

A pilot scheme run by the Kent and Safety Camera Partnership (K&MSCP) in the Towns has caught scores of drivers on camera either on their mobiles or not wearing belts.

They were sent warning letters but no fixed penalty notices were issued.

It’s the police who issue the penalty notices but the safety camera team, which monitors speeding, is adding its weight to the campaign by catching “offenders”

on camera and sending out the warnings.

Since the pilot scheme started two months ago, 178 people have been caught on camera not wearing their seatbelts, and 24 caught using their phones without a hands-free device.

But time is running out for drivers who have failed to take heed of their warnings.

The partnership will increase activity in the final few weeks of the scheme.

From Monday all seven of the partnership’s vans will be in the area.

Katherine Barrett, from K&MSCP, said: “The only reason we are doing this is to get people to belt up and switch off.

“You are twice as likely to die in a crash if you are not wearing a seat belt.

“Many people might be put off wearing a seatbelt on a short journey at low speeds, but in a crash at 30mph your body weight would be multiplied 25 times.

“Imagine multiplying your weight by 25 and then think about how you would try to stop that weight hitting the steering wheel.

“The outcome would be either smashing into something inside the vehicle, like other occupants, or smashing through the window screen. That could be the reality of not wearing a seat belt.”

The deterrent campaign runs until the end of January and then may be extended across the rest of Kent.