ALMOST 3,000 driving offences spotted by police this year included using a laptop and inputting a calorie count into an iPhone.

Dorset Police’s No Excuse team processed 1,546 offences in February, bringing the total so far this year to 2,987 offences, the force said yesterday.

A woman stopped for using her mobile phone at the wheel said she was just putting her daily calories into her iPhone app.

When officers stopped a van driver because they could see a blue light reflecting onto him, he said: “I wasn’t on my phone – I had the laptop open on my lap and was reading that.”

A woman driving a Range Rover along Turbary Park Avenue in Bournemouth thought it was legal to text while driving as long as she was not talking on the phone.

And a driver holding a phone to his ear said: “I wasn’t on the phone, I was listening to the cricket.”

Of the offences detected in 2012 to date, 1,283 were officer-issued tickets. Eleven per cent of tickets were for distraction offences such as using a mobile phone, updating an iPod and taking photos while driving.

Twelve per cent of officer-issued tickets were for not wearing a seatbelt. For the same period in 2011, this figure was 28 per cent.

Other motoring offences included driving without a valid licence, driving with no MOT, driving without vehicle insurance, driving with an iced over or frosted windscreen, not being in proper control of the vehicle, driving a car in a dangerous condition and driving through a red light.

Brian Austin, No Excuse project manager, said: “Evidence over the last year clearly indicates some drivers have difficulty distinguishing between using a mobile phone and using some other communication device such as an iPhone or iPod while driving.”

The 2,987 offences processed compares with 3,113 in the same period last year.

THE THINGS THEY SAY

THE force has released details of comments made by drivers • A speeding driver in Poole said: “If it was school time, I would not have done it.”

• A driver stopped for doing 121mph on the Tolpuddle bypass said he wasn’t looking at the speedometer.

• A driver caught in Christchurch said he did not have his seat belt on as he had been driving before the law said you had to wear one.