A “MILESTONE” 10,000 illegal drivers have been caught during Operation Steerside, the ongoing district-wide road safety crackdown by West Yorkshire Police.

The figure was reached after Sergeant Cameron Buchan, the officer leading the initiative, stopped a driver for speeding on Toller Lane.

The crackdown, which began in February last year, was partly launched on the back of the Telegraph & Argus Stop the Danger Drivers campaign, which was established to highlight poor driving across the district and call for changes to the law.

Another catalyst for Steerside was the tragic double fatal crash in Shipley Airedale Road on January 2, 2016, which claimed the lives of Manningham Taxis driver Mirza Abdul Malick, 64, and his passenger, former antiques restorer Paul Hayward, 55.

Muhammad Sikder, 27, of Sylhet Close, and Ismail Miah, 23, of Springfield Place, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving after they were found to have been racing at 70mph in a 40mph zone.

Both men were jailed for seven and a half years.

Of the 10,000 offences, the majority - 3,634 - have been for speeding, with two drivers caught in Canal Road, Bradford, speeding at 115mph in a 40mph zone last Thursday night.

Sgt Buchan labelled the behaviour of the drivers, one of whom was also arrested for drug driving, as “simply astonishing”.

Of the other offences, 3,557 have been for drivers not wearing seatbelts, 807 for mobile phone use, and 796 for insurance breaches.

More than 1,200 motorists have also been reported for other unspecified driving offences, with 863 vehicles seized.

In a sample of 600 offences taken in April last year, about 85 per cent of drivers were dealt with by some form of diversionary course, with between ten and 12 per cent of cases progressing to the courts.

On reaching the figure, Sgt Buchan said: “It’s a milestone and a chapter heading, but it is just a number. This is just one piece of work alongside everything else West Yorkshire Police are doing.

“If you were to count everything that is going on, we would have reached the 10,000th far earlier.

“Operation Steerside is about road safety, it’s not about numbers like 10,000, 11,000, 12,000, it’s about the people of Bradford feeling safe on the roads.

“We’re just going out there and doing what we can.”

Outlining other notable arrests over the 16 months of the campaign, Sgt Buchan highlighted a driver who is awaiting court action for fraud and driving offences after being caught speeding in Huddersfield Road, Odsal, in a car with false registration plates; a driver of a vehicle who was jailed after being stopped in Bradford in a car stolen in a burglary in Wakefield, and a driver fined and banned after being caught doing 65mph in a 30mph section of Ingleby Road.

He also said Steerside had tackled numerous incidents of dangerous driving where vehicles had failed to stop for police, adding that officers were now working with the Crown Prosecution Service to contribute to a dossier of evidence to highlight the specific problem in Bradford.

Sgt Buchan said that after initially focusing on specific ‘hot spot’ areas, the operation was now expanding all over the district, with a similar scheme also under consideration in Halifax.

“We’re now all over the Bradford area, we’re in Bingley, Shipley, Keighley, the outlying areas are not poor cousins, we are going everywhere,” he said.

“It started off as identifying the areas that give us the most complaints, but that was 16 months ago. Gradually it has evolved and we’re now going where we think it’s needed and where we think we can do something.

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“The biggest challenge that we face with Steerside is education. That 10,000 figure is not made up of people driving at 115mph.

“The word we keep saying is proportionate. We don’t throw the book at everyone, but anyone speeding does fall into the bracket of the fatal four, and 25 per cent of those killed or seriously injured on the roads is down to speed, and not necessarily high speed.”

On the future of the operation, Sgt Buchan said: “We’re never going to stop looking at road safety - we’re committed to it, and if Steerside is not doing it, something else will be.

“We’re keeping abreast of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC) plan, and road safety is a key part of that.”

Mark Burns-Williamson, PCC for West Yorkshire, said: “I am pleased to see just how successful Operation Steerside has been, and the T&A’s Stop the Danger Drivers campaign, as road safety can only be tackled effectively if the police and partners all work together to keep our roads safe for everyone.

“I know that road safety is a significant concern in Bradford and covers a range of issues from inconsiderate parking to dangerous driving all of which can have a major impact on people’s lives.

“That’s why I made it a priority in my Police and Crime Plan, as road safety is always something the public rates very highly in their concerns.

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“I will continue to work with West Yorkshire Police and partners to provide the adequate resources and raise ongoing awareness around the fatal four, and those motorists driving unsafely and illegally should know they will be dealt with to ensure the district’s roads are safe for everyone.”