POLICE have admitted that its latest drive to improve road safety has been "depressingly successful".

Operation Canberra, a joint operation run by Traffic officers, customs and excise, the DSS and the Vehicle Inspectorate revealed that more than 60 per cent of vehicles had dangerous faults which constituted traffic offences.

Of the 104 vehicles stopped at a check point in Samlesbury, 19 were ordered off the road immediately with serious tyre, braking or light defects while another 32 had various faults which were not as serious.

Checks by the force's Stolen Vehicle Squad revealed one stolen vehicle and one with a stolen engine. Three vehicles were running on illegal 'red' diesel. Meanwhile the DSS checked some 162 people with 26 immediately taken off benefit.

Inspector David Pye, from the force Traffic Support Group said: "This was part of a continuing effort to improve standards of road safety throughout the country.

"We concentrated on driver safety, load safety and vehicle safety and as such the results were depressingly successful. Despite a number of similar operations, the number of unsafe vehicles is still unacceptably high, especially in the small van and pickup category."

Twenty people will appear before local courts on a variety of charges following the operation.

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