POLICE have had to let many drivers breaking the law in Chatham go free today because there were so many of them.

The three officers were booking a driver a minute hours after police said they were clamping down on motorists who ignore the closure of Globe Lane.

Other were escaping because there were so many of them passing 'road closed' signs since the waterfront area was shut to cars and lorries.

One motorist who saw what was happening said: "They were doing about one driver every minute but there were so many ignoring the signs that others were able to drive past."

A driver was caught after he escaped the police blocks - he returned despite the warnings.
The weekend operation is not the end of enforcement operations. More stings are planned over the coming weeks.

Globe Lane traffic was closed officially a month before Christmas. Waterfront Way is also closed as part of the long-standing plan to clear traffic from Chatham riverfront as part of the area's regeneration. Only buses, taxis and bikes can now use them.

Robin Cooper, Medway's regeneration director, said: "Closing Globe Lane is the final big change in remodelling Chatham's traffic system.
"It allows important work on building a new bus station for Medway to continue and it opens up the town's waterfront."

When it opens in the summer the bus station it is expected to attracted 60,000 people a week.