MOTORISTS are being reported to police for using their phones while driving on a daily basis.

Road traffic officers say complaints are pouring in from those enraged when they see drivers breaking the law.

In the last 15 months Sussex Police received 3,349 reports of the offence – an average of around seven a day.

It comes as The Argus caught at least eight people in one day on camera who appeared to be on their phones while driving this week, including a Brighton and Hove City Council worker in a branded van.

This follows a week-long police crackdown to catch and deter offenders ahead of expected changes in the law.

The council staff member was spotted by an Argus photographer driving around the roundabout by Brighton Palace Pier and west along the A259 on Tuesday afternoon.

Other drivers included a man driving a Pristine London construction company van. More were spotted on the A293, coming off the Shoreham by-pass.

The It Can Wait police campaign was launched just months after lorry driver Tomasz Korker was jailed for 10 years for killing a woman and her three children.

He was scrolling through music on his mobile phone when he hit the car on the A34.

Officers were out this week looking for anyone making calls, sending texts or checking traffic updates on their phones while driving and to warn them in March they could face double the penalty – £200 and six points on their licence.

Sergeant Philip Badman, of Sussex Police Roads Policing Unit, said the law was there to keep people alive.

He said: “We get reports of drivers using phones on a daily basis without a doubt. I have seen far too many incidents where drivers were distracted by their phones – and it’s not worth it.

"Checking a text seems so insignificant – both at the time, but also once you’ve crashed, and lives have been changed.”

Traffic officer Police Constable Phil Barrow said: “You have to knock on too many doors to tell people their loved ones are not coming home.

"We understand people have busy lives but is always best to pull into a lay-by.”

A council spokeswoman said: “Using a mobile phone while driving is both in violation of the law, and against our own policy and procedures. This is made very clear to all our drivers and our contractors as part of their training.

"It is unacceptable for an employee or contractor to use a mobile phone while driving a council vehicle, as the image appears to show.

"We are asking Mears to carry out an investigation into the matter.”

A Pristine London spokesman said it takes such matters “very seriously” and would investigate. He said employees are given hands-free kits and are reminded of the law and advised to turn phones off in busy areas.

REACHING FOR THE PHONE? REMEMBER, IT CAN WAIT

FEW will have missed the harrowing footage showing the moment a thoughtless lorry driver drove into the back of a car, killing a mother and her three children.

Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons, Ethan, 13, Josh, 11, and stepdaughter, Aimee, 11, died instantly on the A34 in Berkshire while on their way home from a camping trip.

And all because Tomasz Kroker had been absently mindedly flicking through music on his phone at the time.

The cold reality of the dash-cam video recording is so distressing that it means, no matter how many times it is seen, its effect will never lessen.

It is cruel because we know if it were not for the mobile phone, it would never have happened.

It is abhorrent because we know an hour earlier 30-year-old Kroker, of Trajan Walk, Andover, Hampshire, had signed a declaration promising his employer he would not use his phone at the wheel.

He pleaded guilty and was jailed for 10 years. By all accounts he was hugely remorseful.

But Justice Maura McGowan said no powers the court had would lessen the “devastating loss experienced in those affected”.

The news came as figures showed the number of fines issued for the offence across the country had fallen by more than 106,000 between 2011 and 2015.

The victims’ family took a very brave step in agreeing to the video’s release. But it had to be published to show the worst possible consequences of using a mobile phone while driving.

Everyone hopes high-profile cases will deter other drivers but it does not always stop everyone from kicking the habit of a phone taking precedence.

Sadly, the risk is closer to home than we think.

In May, Mark Martin was jailed after being distracted by his mobile phone and causing a catastrophic crash on the A23 at Bolney.

The 39-year-old, of Wrentham Avenue, Herne Bay, Kent, was at the wheel of a Volvo car transporter travelling north when it smashed into a stationary Fiat Punto, just north of the A272 slip road, on September 16, 2015, leaving the 36-year-old driver with life changing injuries.

He pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment at Brighton Crown Court. He was also disqualified from driving for two years and ordered to pay costs.

And The Argus has this week caught on camera several motorists, including some at work, with a mobile phone in hand behind the wheel on busy roads including along the seafront by Brighton Palace Pier where there is a notoriously busy section of pedestrian crossings.

With the Kroker case in mind, Sussex Police officers stepped onto the streets with renewed purpose this week ready to tell drivers about the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership campaign It Can Wait.

Patrols were dispatched to known hot spots in Brighton and Hove, Arundel, Chichester, Worthing, Polegate, Eastbourne and Hastings to catch people in the act, to deter them and raise awareness of the proposed change in the law.

So far at least 10 mobile phone offences were recorded in East Sussex over the week and a similar number in West Sussex. But final figures are yet to be confirmed.

This newspaper joined police on their patrols along the seafront near Hove Lagoon as well as Royal Square, in Marine Parade and Black Rock in Brighton on Thursday.

Despite the near sub-zero temperatures they spent hours on the look-out for drivers using phones, as well as drivers speeding or not wearing seat belt and other road traffic offences.

The camera van sets up in a layby while officers are on stand-by nearby to stop any suspected offenders.

Camera technician Paul Marwick said they use top-of-the-range near high definition equipment which can capture clear recordings that can be used as evidence.

Mr Marwick said: “Purely anecdotally and based on what I have seen I think since the high-profile cases and it being written about in the media people are becoming more aware.”

Drivers will be either stopped by a patrol further down the road or contacted by letter with a warning, asked to pay a fine or face prosecution.

Campaign leader Sergeant Phil Badman said: “The campaigns are a really good way to speak to a lot of drivers and have a visible presence. For our teams this is business as usual as we look to tackle these offences on a daily basis.”

Police Constable Phil Barrow, a traffic officer based in Polegate, was on duty.

He said: “I am generally roaming roads covering the whole of Sussex on a motorbike.

“I wear several cameras and keep in touch with patrols to share information. This week we’ve been reminding people they will get caught and also to educate them about the new law that’s expected to come in.”

PENALTIES MAY DOUBLE

HARSHER penalties are expected for drivers caught using a mobile phone.

Now they can be fined £100 with three points. They could also be prosecuted, banned and given a fine up to £1,000 or £2,500 for bus or goods vehicle drivers.

From March 1 the law could change, with punishments doubling. There may no longer be the option to take part in a driver improvement course to reduce the penalty. New drivers could lose their licence if caught just once.

More than 40 drivers were caught every hour during a week-long police crackdown in November.

Officers across the country issued 7,966 fixed penalty notices.

The tally, equivalent to more than 1,000 every day and 47 an hour, is the highest for a week of enforcement on distraction driving.

In March, officers stopped 105 drivers in Sussex.

They issued 101 with fixed penalty notices or traffic offence reports.

Three were given verbal warnings and one a court summons.

Most offences were by men and those over 25.