THE A69 is to be targeted by traffic cops in a bid to stop driving offences.

The busiest roads in our region are being patrolled by officers in a week long operation that has been described as one of the largest and most diverse to ever take place in the North East.

Northumbria Police are throwing their support behind a road safety week of action dubbed ‘One Road, One Week’ that will take place across the UK and Europe from Monday.

The force's motor patrols department will be joined by the operation dragoon team, neighbourhood officers across and specialist firearms cops as we target drivers in our region.

It will see extra enforcement of speeding, as part of Operation Modero, and officers target dangerous driving, mobile phone use, uninsured drivers, intoxicated driving and seatbelt offences.

However, there will also be a focus on the disruption of organised crime in our rural communities that will be take place across Northumberland.

Specialist officers, and the force’s police dogs, will also be travelling the region to educate the public on road safety.

Sergeant John Sanderson, of Northumbria's motor patrols department, has said drivers will face prosecution if they’re caught speeding during the week of action.

He said: “We are always out to deal with anyone who breaks the law on our roads but during this week of action we have resource available from other departments to really crackdown on dangerous drivers.

“We are determined to reduce accidents and deaths on our roads and will be honing in on the identified roads to carry out enforcement activity using our mobile camera vans.

“If people are caught speeding then they will be handed a fixed penalty notice (FPN) or, in the more extreme cases, they could face being summoned to court.

“Our attention will be focused on the busiest roads in our region but we will also be heading into the countryside to crackdown on organised crime in our rural communities.

“It is the largest and most diverse roads traffic policing operations we have seen in recent years and underlines our commitment to making our roads a safe place for everyone.

“We also want to raise awareness about the multitude of factors that can cause accident on our roads, from drink driving to not carrying out proper vehicle checks before long journeys.

“So our engagement van will be deployed across the region so we can speak to members of the public and we would call on people to engage with us if we are in your community.

“We can all do our bit to make our roads safer and it’s about educating those who may behave carelessly on the roads to think about the bigger picture and the impact that their actions can have.”

Roads targeted during the campaign include, but are not limited to, the A1 at Washington, the Tyne Tunnel, the A697 in Newcastle and the A68 and A69 in Northumberland.