TRAFFIC police have been accused of inept law enforcement by a local coroner after he spotted them using speed guns on a weekday morning.

Michael Oakley, the Malton-based coroner for North Yorkshire East, said the officers had been targeting soft options.

But police have strongly defended their actions, saying they work around the clock against the menace of speeding.

Mr Oakley made his comments after he saw police out "in force" on a weekday morning, using speed guns in a number of Ryedale villages.

"This is a case of police targeting soft options and, moreover, at a totally inappropriate time, and to my mind is a case of inept law enforcement," he said.

"I would suggest, perhaps, the use of speed guns over a weekend when this part of the county has to endure continuous boy racers, mainly on motorcycles."

He added: "It is no good having traffic enforcement officers spread round the county on a 9am to 5pm, five-day week basis.

"They should be targeting the serious offenders and not soft options on a Monday morning."

But police spokesman Ron Johnson insisted that the police had not been out in force.

He said that they had been part of a road safety scheme linked with the fire service, known as Operation Siren.

He said they had been targeting villages with known speeding problems.

"We stop drivers and speak to them and explain the consequences of speeding," he said.

The offenders were not booked, because it was part of a road accident reduction scheme.

"To suggest we were targeting soft options is a nonsense," he said.

Traffic officers were on duty around the clock as part of the campaign to clamp down on speeding.

"Our efforts at enforcement and education in relation to high speeders have been going on for two years," Mr Johnson said.

He said serious offenders were fast-tracked into court and motorcyclists were particularly targeted, because of the high number of fatal accidents in which they were involved.