More than 120 speeding offences were recorded in a day of coordinated action in Maidstone - with the majority of misdemeanours on just two roads.

Teams from Kent Police and Maidstone Borough Council joined forces for the clampdown on unlawful motoring, with both drivers and vehicles facing on-the-spot inspections.

Of the 122 speeding offences dealt with by the force's Safety Camera Team on March 10, the majority were on Warmlake Road, where the speed limit is 30, and the A229, which has a varying limit between 30 to 70 mph.

Officers from the Road Safety Unit also used a mixture of marked and unmarked vehicles to patrol Maidstone to ensure drivers were adhering to the law.

More than 40 vehicles were stopped and drivers were reported for various traffic offences including no insurance, tax, or MOT, using a mobile phone at the wheel and not wearing a seatbelt.

The first stop of the day was a vehicle carrying an insecure load. The driver, 27, from Aylesford, was stopped in St Peter’s Street. He also failed a roadside drugs test for cocaine and was arrested.

He has since been released pending further investigation.

An unmarked police bike pulled over a vehicle on the A20 London Road. The driver, Alekseja Basjuks, 38, of Gorse Crescent in Aylesford, was arrested and charged with drink driving.

He is due to appear at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday, April 5.

Another motorist, 23, from Maidstone, was arrested on suspicion of drug driving after failing a roadside drug test in Phillips Avenue. His vehicle was searched and officers seized a quantity of cannabis.

Officers diverted some of the drivers to a car park in St Peter’s Street where they could give advice and inspect the vehicles.

They also used this area to weigh large vehicles using portable weight plates to ensure the vehicles were not carrying too much. As a result one driver was fined £300.

Maidstone Borough Council inspected six vehicles and seized one van as the driver did not have a waste carrier's licence.

The council’s taxi licensing team also inspected seven cabs, one driver was told to fix a defective tyre and another was not displaying the correct documentation.

Chief Inspector Craig West of the county's Roads Policing Unit said: ‘Motorists who break the law are not only a danger to themselves but to other people too. Thankfully the majority of drivers in Kent do follow the law and drive safely, but there are still some who think the rules don’t apply to them and take unnecessary risks.

‘Road safety is an important part of policing in Kent. Regular joint agency operations like this one are key because they give us greater opportunities to catch those people who are out there taking risks and ensure they face the consequences of their actions.

‘We will always be committed to road safety because it saves lives.’