AN “Intensive” road safety operation over the Easter weekend led to 80 traffic offences being recorded, most in Craven, police have said.

Incidents led to arrests, vehicle seizures, unsafe drivers taken off the road and the recovery of a stolen quad bike.

Units were deployed to key areas during a special Roads Policing Group operation, codenamed Op Boundary, to reduce collisions, target road-related offences and tackle other crime. The Craven/Dales area was a particular focus due to the type and volume of bank holiday traffic.

Officers dealt with unlicensed and uninsured drivers, unroadworthy vehicles, drink and drug driving, speeding, dangerous driving and intercepted criminals who use the road network. They also responded to several serious collisions that left motorists in hospital with serious injuries.

From bank holiday Friday to Monday, officers dealt with hundreds of incidents on the county’s roads, including:

A motorbike seized after the rider exceeded 100mph and failed to stop for police on the B6255 towards Hawes. He was reported for summons and will appear in court soon.

Eight vehicles seized for having no driving licence or insurance – six motorbikes and two cars. Eighty traffic offence reports issued during the long weekend, for a range of offences including using mobile phones while driving, double white line offences, highly-excessive speeds, unroadworthy or illegally-modified vehicles, ignoring red lights and other offences. The majority were in the Craven area.

Four men were tracked down by Op Boundary officers after a quad bike was stolen from Craven. Police found the vehicle in a compound in the Bradford area. All four men arrested and the vehicle was recovered by police.

A number of serious collisions, including a motorcyclist who crashed in Horton-in-Ribblesdale, suffering serious but not life-threatening injuries. A crash involving two motorbikes and a car in Bainbridge near Hawes left one rider in hospital with serious injuries. And a motorbike pillion passenger suffered very serious injuries and had to be airlifted to hospital after coming off a bike in Pateley Bridge.

Motorists clocked by safety camera vehicles and police officers doing extreme speeds including more than twice the speed limit – one driver was recorded at 102mph in a 50mph zone in Richmondshire.

Traffic Sergeant Pete Stringer, who led Op Boundary, said: “We’ve had a very busy but extremely productive weekend, the results of which speak for themselves.

“We’ve dealt with some serious road offences over the last few days and Op Boundary allowed us to focus on reducing collisions in key areas and keeping the roads as safe as possible.

“But it also meant our units were strategically deployed so they could tackle other offences, such as theft and burglary, which involve the use of our road network.

“Everyone has a right to use North Yorkshire’s roads without being put at risk by an irresponsible minority. North Yorkshire’s roads aren’t racetracks and anyone who uses them illegally will be dealt with as robustly as possible.

“This is just the start of this intensive and hard-hitting campaign and we’ll continue this approach throughout the summer.”