Police Scotland has said it will be next week before it reveals how many motorists fell foul of new, tougher penalties for using a mobile phone while driving.
From March 1, drivers caught on the phone or texting behind the wheel will receive a £200 fine and six penalty points on their licence.
This means anyone caught using a mobile within two years of passing their test will automatically lose their licence. New drivers will lose it immediately.
In England a number of people were caught, including a journalist sent out to cover the launch of the new penalties and a driver texting about her missing puppy.
But Police Scotland said it would be next week before they revealed how many drivers on Scotland’s roads had been caught flouting the law despite a high-profile pre-publicity campaign and social media blitz on the day of the launch.
From TODAY, penalties DOUBLE for those caught using a handheld phone while driving. #BePhoneSmart #THINK #EyesOnTheRoad #dontriskit.
— RoadPolicingScot (@polscotrpu) March 1, 2017
The Courier asked Police Scotland’s local and national press offices for figures but no information was provided.
By noon on Wednesday, Dorset Police said they had stopped 31 drivers on their mobiles.
One of these was a driver of a 7.5 tonne lorry using his phone while travelling around a roundabout in the Bournemouth area, the force said.
Norfolk Police Tweeted that it had stopped 11 drivers on their phones in 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, more than 20 motoring offences were detected by officers from Kent’s Roads Policing Unit in the morning.
Of these, 12 drivers were stopped for using their phones, four for not being in proper control of their vehicle and four for driving at excess speed.
A driver who appeared to be talking to a parrot perched on the steering wheel was also stopped after his van was spotted swerving between lanes on the M20, the force said.
Thames Valley Police (TVP) said it had stopped 11 people for using phones, including two new drivers, in its first patrol of the day. It also stopped five people for not wearing seat belts.
Other police forces are expected to release figures at the end of the week-long national crackdown.
Around 3,600 motorists were handed penalties during a similar initiative last month.
The new measures are being introduced following a series of high-profile cases and research suggesting the practice is widespread.
New drivers can have their licence revoked if they get six penalty points in their first two years on the road, which could now be the result of sending a single text message.
More experienced motorists can lose their licence if they receive 12 points in a three-year period.
Twenty-two people were killed and 99 seriously injured in accidents on Britain’s roads in 2015 where a motorist using a mobile was a contributory factor, latest figures show.
Lorry driver Tomasz Kroker was jailed for 10 years in October after killing a woman and three children by ploughing into their stationary car on the A34 near Newbury, Berkshire, while distracted by his phone.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said increasing fixed penalties will be a “strong deterrent”.