Speed checks are taking place across Suffolk roads all week as part of a Europe-wide campaign, with one driver already reportedly caught at nearly double a 30mph limit.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Roads and Armed Policing Team set up road checkpoints in Grundisburgh and Garvestone on Monday, April 1 for the first day of the European Traffic Police Network TISPOL campaign.

The week-long speed enforcement campaign runs until Sunday, April 7 and includes a 24-hour “speed marathon” on Wednesday in a bid to catch as many law breakers as possible.

Officers Tweeted on Monday that the team “conducting speed checks in #Grundisburgh this afternoon were disappointed that 10 drivers were stopped and reported for exceeding the 30mph speed limit”.

They went on to say: “Highest speed recorded was 59mph #drivetoarrive #SlowDown @SuffolkPolice.”

The team in Garvestone said it issued 10 traffic offence reports (TORs) in an hour and said it found a driver doing 56mph in a 30mph zone.

TISPOL president Paolo Cestra said: “Our activity is all about prevention.

“We want drivers to think about the speeds they choose, speeds which are both legal and appropriate for the conditions.

“By doing so, they will be reducing the risks they face and the risks they pose to other road users.”

He went on to say: “Illegal and/or inappropriate speed is the single biggest factor fatal road collisions. That’s why police officers take action against drivers who fail to comply with speed limits.”

Speeding is seen by police one of the ‘fatal four’ offences which makes you more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a collision alongside drink-driving, driving whilst using a mobile phone and not wearing a seatbelt.

The campaign started on the same day that this newspaper revealed the fastest illegal speeds recorded on Suffolk roads over the past three years.

The fastest ever recorded speed on the county’s roads is believed to be 154mph at the A11 at Icklingham, when Louie Howlett - from Lakenheath - was caught doing more than double the national speed limit in a Seat Leon Cupra in April 2016.

Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s police and crime commissioner, said: “I find it absolutely staggering that, despite all the publicity and numerous warning signs, drivers continue to be caught driving at such horrendous speeds.

“I cannot understand how anyone could ever think there is an excuse for such reckless and irresponsible behaviour.

“Speed is one of the fatal four causes of serious injury or death on our roads and these thoughtless drivers really do need to wake up to the fact that they are not just risking their own lives, but the lives of fellow road users.”