KEEN cops fined so many motorists caught using an illegal rat-run in York city centre that they ran out of tickets.

Officers handed out 75 tickets in just one hour - or one every 48 seconds.

A sergeant and five special constables had planned a two-hour crackdown on drivers flouting the law in York's Coppergate - but they had to stop after an hour because they didn't have any tickets left to issue fixed penalties.

The £30 fines were given out as part of an on-going "zero tolerance" crackdown which was launched by officers in the city centre last month.

There is a ban on all vehicles apart from taxis and buses in Coppergate between 8am and 6pm from Monday to Saturday.

Sergeant Martin Metcalfe, of the Guildhall neighbourhood policing team, and the team of five volunteer special constables, took to the streets at about 4pm on Thursday to enforce the ban on motorists in Coppergate.

Sgt Metcalfe said: "It was unbelievable. We started at 4pm and we wanted to do it for four hours, but we ran out of tickets.

"We caused a little bit of chaos with traffic congestion in the city centre but most members of the public were pleased about what we were doing, as were the bus and taxi drivers.

"We got a lot of really positive feedback from people.

"The only people not pleased were the ones getting the tickets."

He said more tickets had to be printed after police across York ran out and pledged to keep doing the Coppergate operations until motorists got the message.

"We are starting to get through to them," he said. "But there will be random checks in the area for the foreseeable future. "And anyone who is caught for a second time will be going to court, not just getting a ticket."

The Press told in December how 15 fixed penalty fines were given to motorists in Coppergate as part of a Christmas crime crackdown.

Sgt Metcalfe said that operation had a knock-on affect with drivers avoiding the area for about a week, but they gradually started using it again.

He warned that there was no exception for disabled drivers.

He said: "We did stop quite a few disabled drivers who said they did not realise they couldn't use Coppergate. We used our discretion and gave them warnings rather than fines - but I want to let them know there is no access for disabled drivers either."

The ban on motorists is in place to protect pedestrians and cut congestion.