'Operation Butternut' aims to tackle drink-driving, speeding and other road safety issues in Washington

The “bespoke” project, named Operation Butternut, is to be a collaboration between Sunderland City Council and Northumbria Police.

Force chiefs told the latest Washington Area Committee they are hoping the pilot scheme will go live this month, with community chest funding secured to help carry it out.

Inspector Steve Passey, from Northumbria Police, speaking at the meeting, said they will look to take a “holistic approach in taking out some of the most dangerous offenders” on roads in the area.

He said: “We’re going to look to target drunk drivers, but not only that, we’re going to proactively tackle some road safety issues which I know affect our community.

“Every area is affected by these issues that we see on our roads from speeding, to bus lanes, to inappropriate parking.

“We’ll use this operation to educate the public, work with our partners in collaboration with Sunderland City Council and hopefully remove these people from the roads.”

As part of the programme to improve road safety, officers will be “strategically” placed around Washington to catch culprits of the vehicle offences.

Inspector Passey added as a “by-product” of the operation they expect to tackle persistent offenders of incorrect bus lane use, deterring behaviour through officer presence and education.

Police added equipment for the operation is currently on order and they are still facing “a little bit of red tape”, but they remain hopeful of rolling it out this month.

They are also aiming to bring an update to a future area committee meeting with information on how the project has gone.