‘I WASN’T using my phone, officer, I was taking a Snapchat’.

This was the excuse given to police by a driver caught using her mobile phone at the wheel.

The motorist was stopped along Sandbanks Road on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police’s No Excuse team said the driver was “corrected on her understanding of the mobile phone legislation” and issued with six points and a £200 fine.

The feeble excuse was not the only one given to officers on patrol that night.

Another driver who was caught using their phone at the wheel told police: “I was just texting my other half what I wanted from Dominoes, sorry.”

Police say they park unmarked vehicles in a position that allows them to see into driver’s vehicles to combat those “discreetly” using their phones.

“We also deploy unmarked police motorcycles that filter through the traffic spotting motorists using their phones. We also put officers in plain clothes that patrol on foot looking for offences. The officer then informs a patrol vehicle, they stop the vehicle and deal with the offence,” the spokesperson said.

The No Excuse team also spent some of the patrol on Sandbanks Road and Canford Cliffs Road following complaints from the public about speeding.

They issued several tickets for exceeding the speed limit.