GIVEN we are now into the winter months, it’s really important to reiterate our road safety messages.

The impact of death and injury on our roads is significant not just because of the impact on victims and families but also the effect on communities and the wider public.

We want to make sure tragedies do not occur in this region and I would strongly advise that young people take all the necessary precautions if playing near roadways and motorists ensure their speeds and driving behaviours do not put themselves or others at risk.

Local Roads Policing Officers have spent a significant amount of time targeting local priority routes over the summer, positively influencing driver behaviour. They have been paying particular attention to the A198/99 coastal routes, which have seen the most serious road collisions in recent years. We engaged with car drivers and motorcyclists and often these road users are either warned or given advice in an effort to make them safer drivers and more aware of the potential hazards which exist.

In East Lothian I have increased the number of officers trained in the use of handheld radar devices. We now have in excess of 30 local officers trained, which includes all our funded officers and the majority of our community officers.

We’ve used these resources to carry out enforcement activity in the East Lothian hotspots and since the start of April 2015 we have detected 416 speeding drivers, with 39 being detected during October. Particular attention will be given around schools and other identified problem areas. This is an effort to change driver behaviour and reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads.

On a separate issue, following a two-day enforcement initiative across Musselburgh, Prestonpans, Tranent, Haddington, Dunbar and North Berwick various individuals were targeted for a range of crimes.

Four men aged 23, 31, 43 and 56 were arrested and charged for sexual offences, including public indecency and sexual assault.

Officers also detained 10 people in connection with eight assaults. Eight men aged 49, 20, 29, 20, 37, 32, 32 and 33 were all charged, along with two women aged 35 and 42.

In addition, police executed drugs warrants in Prestonpans and Haddington, where quantities of heroin, cocaine and diazepam, and cash worth £10,000, were recovered.