A CRACKDOWN aimed at curbing the number of drivers using their mobile phones while at the wheel got under way in Hampshire – and caught ten drivers in the first three hours.

Totton’s Roads Policing Unit started the drive yesterday with a mini operation along Southampton Road.

As scores of commuters headed to work, eagle-eyed officers pulled over those using their phones, directing them into the car park at Lakeside where they were either cautioned or handed a penalty ticket.

As of yesterday afternoon a total of 138 motorists have been caught by the Roads Policing Unit in Hampshire since the launch of the campaign on Sunday.

Drivers on their phones while behind the wheel are four times more likely to have an accident, as reaction times are 50 per cent slower.