A SHOCKING 8700 drivers were caught using their mobile phones in Glasgow, last year.

Figures show a rise by one third since 2008/2009 in the number of drivers who have faced three points and a £60 fine for using their mobile while behind the wheel.

Police chiefs put the rise down to a clampdown on offending drivers.

The Evening Times was given exclusive access to accompany traffic police in marked and unmarked cars as they patrolled the city on the lookout for crimes.

In less than three hours, police stopped and fined four motorists for using their phones while driving.

In pouring rain Stratclyde Police's unmistakable blue, white and yellow Mitsubishi Shogun jeep sped down the M8, turning off at Junction 10, Easterhouse.

At 8.30am, traffic officer Constable George Morrow, spotted the driver of a white van on his phone on Westerhouse Road, on the bridge over the M8.

But the driver, distracted by the call, was oblivious to the two marked police cars on his flanks.

Constable Morrow said: "I am like a proverbial canary, I am sat with my yellow jacket but his driving was so affected because of the phone call, he missed two marked jeeps."

Sirens on he pulled the driver over, filled out the ticket and breathalysed him.

Constable Morrow said: "He had his right hand up to his right ear and what looked like a silver phone.

"The phone has to be in proximity to the mouth and the lips moving so you can assume they are taking a call."

Later, the Evening Times accompanied unmarked officers as they patrolled the M8, the M77 and the M74.

At 10.47am, on the M8 at Junction 15, PC Alan Cook and PC Scott MacDonald pulled alongside a van as it signalled to leave the motorway.

The driver had his phone up to his ear and appeared to be talking.

There was a look of exasperation on the man's face when he spotted the officers.

Once stopped, they filled out the ticket.

PC Cook said the majority of tickets he writes are for speeding and mobile phone crimes.

The highest number of tickets he has issued in one day is 43, for mobile phone crime and seat belts.

He said: "Using a mobile phone has a noticeable affect on your that driving."

IT has been illegal to use a mobile phone while driving since 2003 and the £60 and three point penalty came into effect in February 2007.

Superintendent Jim Baird, Strathclyde's head of road policing, said: "We have increased our enforcement activity against people who risk the safety of others.

"You are much more likely to be involved in a road collision if you are making a phone call or texting while driving."