Lincolnshire Police have pulled up 27 motorists in Lincoln in one day because they were driving too close to cyclists.

The force carried out the blitz as part of Operation Safe Pass, to educate road users on the safe distance that should be given when passing cyclists.

This is identified as a minimum of 1.5 metres, or, to use their slogan, “keep them alive at 1.5."

The initiative is part of the overarching Project Tandem and is timed to coincide with Road Safety Week.

Motorists risk the potential of a prosecution for driving without due care and attention. This can result in between 3 and 9 points on your licence and a fine of between £100 and £5,000.

Kevin Scott was one of the drivers pulled over but he said he was very happy about it and was glad that people were being made aware of the issue.

He said: "This is about education.

"I always leave plenty of room and had given as much room as I could give the circumstances and I wasn't close but probably just within the 1.5m.

"I don't mind being stopped at all - it's a good reminder to everyone and it is better to be stopped than risk hitting a cyclist."

Mr Scott was happy to attach one of the reminder stickers on the back of his van for other road users to see.

Assistant Chief Constable Shaun West said "Essentially we want to get away from the thinking that you can just squeeze through.

"That is potentially a life and death decision. Whether you are the cyclist cutting through queues, or the driver passing too close, we want you to think twice.

"We have a lot of traffic, a lot of bends to negotiate and a lot of lives lost every year due to bad decisions.

"With Operation Safe Pass, we want to get the phrase keep them alive at one point five to leap into the mind of any road user who is about to overtake a cyclist.

"Cyclists and drivers are sometimes seen as opposing groups but with Project Tandem, we send a clear message that we need to use the road safely, alongside each other.

"It doesn’t matter if you are on two wheels or four, we can all make changes to improve safety. Patience, sound judgement and respect are what we want from anyone using our roads."

Six cyclists have lost their lives on Lincolnshire roads since 2016 - including one who died in Caistor earlier this year.

A total of 18,477 cyclists were injured in the UK in one year alone in 2016.