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Despite drivers being warned that they will be caught on camera if they commit mobile phone and seatbelt offences, safety camera vans are still detecting about 100 offenders a month.

Two months into the pilot scheme in Medway, there have been 178 people caught on camera not wearing a seatbelt, and 24 people caught driving while talking on a phone.

In order to try to get the message through, the Kent & Medway Safety Camera Partnership (K&MSCP)  will be increasing activity in the final few weeks of the scheme. Any driver using their phone or not belting up will be detected by the camera vans which will be covering camera sites in Medway. During the week commencing 19 January all seven vans will be in the area.

Katherine Barrett, Communications Officer for the 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."