Police’s biggest ever road safety event finds beer cans in a car and even a vehicle with no reverse gear

Even while he is having his lunch there is no rest for PC Steve Godfrey as yet another driver not wearing her seatbelt pulls up right in front of him at the Oundle Road Tesco.

It is the third that morning, not to mention the drivers who are uninsured, parking illegally, or found on their phone, who have also come his way.

All of this forms part of Cambridgeshire police’s biggest ever road safety event, which saw more than 800 enforcement actions handed out between 6am Friday and 6am on Saturday.

Many of these were in Peterborough, where a driver was caught with nine cans of beer by their seat.

Earlier, an elderly lady had crashed her car while watching officers stop another vehicle. She then failed an eye check.

Police spent many hours on Lincoln Road, Oundle Road, Thorpe Road and Eastfield Road, while PC Godfrey and Sergeant Justin Howard started their day at Gunthorpe Primary School, which they said had been highlighted to police as one of the worst for school parking in the city.

Sure enough, both men quickly spotted a driver parked on the zigzagged yellow lines in Gunthorpe Road, just outside the school.

The first ticket of the morning was handed out, followed quickly by two more on Haveswater Close, just outside another school entrance.

As the officers approach a woman comes past telling them that a child had just nearly been run over.

Three parents, who do not wish to be named, tell the Peterborough Telegraph: “It gets ridiculous some mornings. It’s a nightmare.”

Assistant headteacher Chrissy Parker says parents are regularly reminded about parking. “We encourage our children to walk to school as soon as they can,” she said.

The day of action delivers a few surprises, including one car which has no reverse gear.

There are speed checks and tyre checks, while an HGV is taken to secondary schools so pupils can learn about their blind spots and cycling/pedestrian safety.

Several cars are seized as the drivers have no insurance.

PC Craig Farrington was in charge of the operation in Peterborough. Explaining the force’s zero tolerance approach on the day, he pointed out: “If you don’t break the law you have no issues.”

‘If you don’t break the law you have no issues’

PC Craig Farrington

A car being seized in Millfield