HUNDREDS of people are recklessly putting their lives at risk by failing to wear seatbelts, it has been revealed.

Nearly 400 people – including two children – have been caught travelling without wearing a seatbelt on the county’s roads in just one week.

Now, senior police chiefs are warning drivers and passengers that they are risking serious injury or death if they fail to buckle up.

Figures released after a major Hampshire Constabulary crackdown reveal 392 people were spotted without seatbelts.

They include around 100 people in the Basingstoke and north Hampshire area.

It follows 441 people being caught in the county in March last year and a further 372 in September.

In the latest operation men were by far the worst offenders, making up 83 per cent of those caught.

Almost all – 98 per cent – were front seat drivers, with those in cars (64 per cent) more likely not to wear a seatbelt than van and lorry drivers (34 per cent).

The majority of 86 per cent were on urban roads, compared to motorways and dual carriageways (11 per cent).

Excuses ranged from a front seat passenger claiming he normally served as a taxi driver and was not used to wearing one, to a woman caught wearing it under her arm saying: “It hurts, I just had a piercing”.

Force road safety officer Sergeant Rob Heard warned that failure to wear a seatbelt is one of the four fatal offences of speeding, using a mobile phone and consuming drugs or alcohol.

He said: “It has been shown to be one of the main causes for death and serious injuries on our roads.

“You are twice as likely to die in a collision if you are not wearing a seatbelt.

“By targeting these offences we know it will save lives and prevent injury.”

He said the results suggest people are being lured into a sense of false security on residential roads closer to their homes, adding: “Not wearing a seatbelt can be a fatal decision even on short, familiar journey and at low speeds.

“Research has shown that in a collision if you are unrestrained, you will hit the windscreen at a force of 30 to 60 times your own body weight.

“Please always wear your seatbelt, it’s not worth the risk.”

Officers deployed a variety of methods during the Europe-wide clampdown including travelling in unmarked cars and bikes.

They also used an unmarked LGV tractor unit driven by an officer, while a colleague filmed offenders and marked panda cars intercepted the offenders.