Drivers caught in phone crackdown

The new laws came into force on 27 February

Police across Scotland caught 109 motorists using hand-held mobile phones while driving on the first day of tougher penalties.

Drivers flouting the law now face a £60 fine and three points on their licence. Motorists previously risked a £30 fine.

A total of 38 people were caught in the Strathclyde region, with Tayside Police pulling over 20 drivers.

Police said they were disappointed that the law was still being ignored despite media coverage of the new penalties.

Inspector John Smith, head of Northern Constabulary's road policing section, said: "Despite the widespread coverage the new law has received in the written and broadcast media it is disappointing to see there are some drivers still willing to flout the law."

DRIVERS CAUGHT IN SCOTLAND Strathclyde 38 Tayside 20 Lothian and Borders 15 Dumfries and Galloway 10 Grampian 8 Northern 8 Central 7 Fife 3

A 24-year-old man on a tractor near Stranraer was among those caught.

Another was a man in Perth who already had nine points on his licence.

He now faces being banned from the road and has been reported to the procurator fiscal.

In 2005, 13 deaths and 400 injuries were blamed on drivers using hand-held mobile phones.