HOLIDAYMAKERS took advantage of the spring sunshine this weekend as hoards of people flocked to the south coast to start the Bank Holiday.

But for some the journey did not go smoothly as police mounted a spot-check operation on trailers and caravans.

More than 50 vehicles towing boats, equipment and mobile homes along the M27 were stopped by police conducting safety inspections.

Officers from Hampshire Police, HM Customs and Excise and the vehicle inspectorate staged the joint operation that also used police motorcyclists to guide vehicles off the westbound carriageway to a checkpoint at Rownhams service station near Southampton.

The team was also checking for stolen vehicles after last year a reported £1.2m worth of caravans were stolen.

Leading the operation Sgt John Dainton said: "This is the first time in the new year that people will be using caravans and trailers and a lot of those holidaymakers will not have thoroughly checked over their vehicles to ensure they are safe.

"Every single one of the vehicles we stopped had to be adjusted or had to have work done to them before they could continue safely on their journey."

Despite the minor disruption for some motorists the main routes around Hampshire remained relatively incident free. Apart from congestion on some roads into the New Forest and queuing traffic along the southbound M3 where it meets the M27, no major tailbacks were reported.

Meanwhile the Easter holiday rush was well under way at Southampton Airport where 18,000 passengers were expected to use the terminal over the bank holiday weekend.

Most popular destinations include Malaga in Spain, Paris, Edinburgh and the Channel Islands.

Passengers wanting to catch some early spring sun are also taking off for Tenerife, while the airport's longest serving airline, Aurigny, is offering eight additional flights to Alderney to cater for the extra Easter demand.