A total of 313 people were caught not wearing a seatbelt in a 24-hour crackdown.

Of these, 137 were in the Strathclyde area.

Patrols were carried out on Scotland’s roads on Wednesday – the 21st anniversary of the legislation which made it compulsory for children to belt up in the back.

The next highest force was Central where 50 drivers were caught.

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) said the figure showed motorists were continuing to disregard their safety by flouting the law.

In Tayside, a van driver was reported to prosecutors after being spotted carrying a child between the front seats.

And in Grampian, a child who was not buckled in stood up and distracted his mother while driving on the A90, causing the car to hit a bridge. The boy was knocked unconscious and spent the night in hospital.

Chief Superintendent Charlie Common, from Lothian and Borders Police, who is in charge of casualty reduction at Acpos, said: “Scottish police forces work with other partner agencies to do all that is possible to reduce the number of people killed or injured on our roads. However the onus is on drivers and passengers themselves.”

An estimated one in three people killed on the roads was not wearing a seatbelt, while, on average, 27,000 drivers and passengers are caught each year in Scotland not wearing a seatbelt.

Leslie Harrold, road safety manager with Grampian Police, which recorded just one case, said there was “no room for complacency”