DURING a two-week crackdown, 281 people were stopped in Gwent for not wearing seatbelts.

Officers carried out targeted patrols during March, where people were stopped and offered the chance to watch a hard-hitting presentation to avoid an £80 fine and prosecution. During initiative, 41 vehicles were stopped in Blaenau Gwent, with 38 choosing to watch the safety presentation at Tredegar Fire Station.

In Risca and Abercarn, 22 people were stopped, with all of them attending Abercarn Fire Station for the presentation.

The initiative is part of the All Wales Seatbelt Campaign, which ran for a month in 2010 and 2011, with over 400 people being stopped.

It is estimated that every year more than 1,000 lives are saved in the UK as a direct result of wearing a seatbelt.

Not wearing seatbelts is the focus of a road safety campaign in Wales and is one of its Fatal Five - the main contributory factors in fatal road traffic collisions.

The others are drink and drug driving, driving while using a mobile phone, speeding and careless and dangerous driving.

Inspector Lee Ford, of the Gwent Police Roads Policing Unit, said: "Seatbelt education and enforcement campaigns are conducted regularly by Gwent Police.

"It is disappointing to see that some drivers and passengers are still determined not to wear seatbelts. If you do not wear a seatbelt you not only endanger yourself, but also other passengers within your vehicle in the event of a collision.

"Many deaths each year would be avoided if all drivers and passengers wore seatbelts."