POLICE seized 148 vehicles and fined 1,782 drivers during a traffic campaign.

Extra officers were on patrol around some of Essex's most dangerous roads for Operation Calypso this summer.

The crackdown was launched by the Essex Casualty Reduction Board to reduce the amount of casualties on the roads.

Prosecutions were made for speeding, no insurance, using a mobile phone while driving, not wearing seatbelts and drink-driving.

Norman Hume, chairman of the board, said: "Early indications show that this campaign is helping to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.

"But we are determined to reduce this even further by continuing to focus on road safety enforcement, engineering, education and publicity."

Results of Operation Calypso will be advertised on the back of buses.

Chief Inspector Tom Diment, head of roads policing, said: "These advertisements are being used to let motorists know about our additional road policing patrols.

"We are using all enforcement methods at our disposal, including covert operations; concentrating on the routes that have a history of drivers killed and serious injury crashes."