HUNDREDS of people across Hampshire have been stopped for illegally using their mobile phones whilst driving.

In the last week of January 285 people were stopped and received penalty notices.

Among the excuses officers heard were: "I wasn't using the phone, I was videoing a car that cut me up", “This is hypocritical, but I hate people using their phones while driving!”, "I was on my phone talking to my mate about American football as it’s a boring drive", and a driver playing games on their phone in a traffic queue said "I was bored".

Hampshire Constabulary Road Safety Sergeant Rob Heard, said: "These results are disappointing and show that many people still do not understand the dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving. The majority of people know they should not be using their phone whilst driving, but don't seem to understand what a huge distraction it is.

The below table shows which roads policing unit these drivers were stopped by:

Havant-based roads policing officers - 88;

Whitchurch-based roads policing officers - 51;

Totton-based roads policing officers - 82;

Isle of Wight-based roads policing officers - 29;

Other officers - 35.

The figure for the 2015 campaign is higher than the result for the same campaign in 2014 where 178 drivers faced further action for using a mobile phone. This increase can be

Drivers are four times more likely to crash if you use a mobile phone while driving