POLICE are joining in the season of goodwill by passing on friendly advice to motorway drivers rather than fining them.

In a pilot scheme beginning this week and lasting for six months, officers on patrol will pull over motorists to simply explain what they are doing wrong.

The motorway police unit believes many people are accidentally misusing fog lights, mobile phones, hard shoulders and the motorway lanes because they are not aware of the laws.

PC Jon Allwright, who came up with the idea for the scheme, said it was pointless fining people £30 for offences which were innocent mistakes.

However, if motorists are caught out twice after being given advice, they will be punished.

Once the scheme has ended, police will ring the drivers up to see if the information helped. If the feedback is positive, it maybe rolled out to other areas of the country.

The idea fits in with Lancashire Constabulary's problem orientated policing approach, which seeks to get to the root cause of issues to prevent them recurring.

PC Allwright said: "I started on the unit some 18 months ago and found that, on a regular basis, people came up saying what will you do about things like fog lights, lane discipline and stopping on a hard shoulder.

"These are real issues which spiral down into road rage. Drivers can easily be prosecuted for driving without reasonable consideration to other road users, which is a £30 fixed penalty.

"Many drivers are simple unaware of or are confused of the law and we hope to educate them in what they can or cannot do. They are often surprised when these offences are pointed out.

"By raising awareness of these offences, we hope to reduce road casualties."