MORE than 40 people were caught not wearing seatbelts as police launched a road safety crackdown in Clacton yesterday.

Officers from the the casualty reduction unit staged the clampdown - codenamed Operation Nash.

Forty-five people were not wearing seatbelts.

Automatic number plate recognition technology was used to identify suspect vehicles which were then intercepted and taken to stop-check sites at Brook Country Park and Olivers Road.

Nine drivers were caught using mobile phones and eight vehicles were seized for not having the right insurance.

Sgt David Rudd said: "A total of 45 people were seen not wearing a seatbelt during the operation. One of those was a child under the age of three.

"Seatbelts exist for a reason. In a crash you are twice as likely to die if you aren’t wearing one, yet people we stopped told us they weren’t wearing one because they forgot, they were only travelling a short distance or the weather was too warm.

"None of these are valid reasons for risking injury or even death.”

Officers also caught 15 drivers speeding and four without a licence.