MOTORCYCLISTS on Hampshire roads have been at the centre of a police safety campaign.

Hampshire Constabulary supported the National Motorcycle Week of Action with an initiative to keep drivers and riders across the county safe.

Their campaign involved sending police officers out on motorbikes to record on video what they were seeing and doing to stay safe for one week.

These officers were also expected to talk to any dangerous riders and have now revealed almost 200 motorcyclists had to be pulled over for their risky road habits.

This campaign was launched to keep people safe on the roads and while out researching the issue police, officers gave advice, reported offences or helped at the scene of a collision.

In Whitchurch, 30 motorcyclists were spoken to by an officer but according to safety sergeant Rob Heard the figures are encouraging.

He said: “Our results show a relatively small number of motorcyclists have been caught speeding across the week.

“As the weather improves, more and more people are deciding to get their motorcycles out to either commute to work or go out for a leisure ride.

“We are asking riders and motorists to look out for each other and to be considerate towards each other. We are reminding people to ‘THINK BIKE’ and ‘BIKERS THINK’.”

Out of the 182 motorcyclists spoken to across Hampshire, 16 had been involved in a collision and 11 per cent had been caught speeding, but 48 per cent had not committed an offence and were instead given information by officers about courses.

The figures also reveal that urban roads can be particularly dangerous for motorcyclists with 64 per cent of those pulled over riding through country lanes.

Sergeant Heard added: “We have identified three high risk groups of motorcyclists. These are leisure riders, commuters, and young scooter riders. Motorists pulling out from junctions really do need to be vigilant.”