Two-thirds of Britain's police forces caught people driving in excess of 100mph during the first three weeks of the coronavirus lockdown, an investigation has found.

Police data obtained by the RAC revealed that the highest speed was clocked at 151mph on the M62 motorway in West Yorkshire, which was 81mph over the limit.

The highest speed clocked by West Mercia Police was a motorist doing 92mph in an area where the limit was 60.

And Dyfed-Powys identified one speeder who reached 88mph, which was also on a road with a 60mph limit.

RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams described the speeds as "truly shocking" and warned that motorists travelling this fast have "virtually no time to react should anything unexpected happen".

He went on: "Some drivers have taken advantage of quieter roads to speed excessively, putting the lives of others at risk at the worst possible time.

"It's encouraging that so many police forces have taken firm action even during the lockdown, which sends a strong message to other would-be offenders."

Department for Transport figures show that road traffic was around two-thirds lower than normal for the first few weeks after the lockdown was introduced on March 23, when people were urged to stay at home and avoid non-essential travel.

The RAC sent freedom of information requests to all forces in Britain. Twenty out of the 30 forces to provide data recorded speeds in excess of 100mph.

Across Britain there were 17,363 speeding offences recorded on roads with 30mph limits.

Mr Williams went on: "The figures for speeding offences on 30mph roads are particularly worrying as far more people have been walking and cycling due to the lockdown.

"As some schools and nurseries in England begin to open their doors from this week, there will be even more pedestrians on the roads, so we urge every driver to obey the speed limit and keep all road users safe."