BELT UP! This is the message police and the county's road safety chiefs want to drive home to Eastleigh motorists.

The county council's road safety team have joined forces with the Roads Policing Unit to educate drivers and passengers on the need to wear seat belts.

Next month they are due to re-run a campaign which was launched in February. It had to be shortened because of bad weather and police resources being redeployed.

During the campaign 11 drivers were stopped for not wearing seat belts.

In a bid to educate rather than dish out a £30 spot fine the offending motorists were given the opportunity to attend a short educational presentation, including a video.

A number of those stopped were commercial vehicle drivers.

Many of them were unaware of a revised regulation which states that drivers can only travel for a maximum of 50 metres while

carrying out deliveries or collections before a seat belt must be worn.

The county council director of environment Alison Quant said: "This campaign targets areas of the county where there are significant numbers of vehicle occupancy casualties.

"We are very pleased that those who chose the presentations seemed to appreciate the potential consequences of their actions."

She added: " Securing your seat belt is hardly an onerous or time consuming task.

"Why take the risk of serious injury or death for the sake of saving a few seconds?

"The message is belt up every time you travel."

Acting Inspector Andrew Waller of the Road Policing Unit said: "It is crucial that we educate people of the importance of wearing seat belts and we were pleased with how well this was received by people.

"We hope to continue this joint education and enforcement approach across the county throughout 2005."