POLICE officers have stopped 160 vehicles during a three-day road safety traffic operation across Wiltshire.

Operation Frozen took place this week with officers based at the County Ground in Swindon, the Granada Service in Warminster and the Beehive Park and Ride in Salisbury.

The operation was aimed at raising awareness and educating motorists about how to stay safe on the roads.

In Warminster a total of 50 cars and various drivers were given words of advice with regards to road safety and vehicle maintenance whilst on the road.

Officers gave out three fixed penalty notices for not wearing seat belts and having defective lamps, and handed out five vehicle defect rectifications for defective lamps and tyres.

They handed out three traffic offence reports for cord exposed on tyres.

Two people were stopped and searched for drugs, but nothing was located.

PC Alex Way, from Tri-Force Roads Policing Unit, said: "This was a three-day proactive operation across Swindon and Wiltshire designed to target motorists who break the law.

"This was not about "catching out bad drivers" but about raising awareness and speaking to drivers about how to stay safe.

"It covered a whole range of issues, including people not wearing seat belts or driving with defective tyres. We also spoke to drivers about upkeep and maintenance of vehicles as there were plenty of small defects that people hadn't realised about - these are all little things which could contribute to a collision.

"We know the public care about making our roads safer, so I hope this shows that we are taking action and proactively working to educate motorists about the law."