Targets were not intended to punish motorists for minor offences but to crack crime, according to Thames Valley Police.

The force was responding to an article in The Sunday Times which claimed traffic officers were being set quotas for the number of motorists they fine each month, for offences such as speeding and driving without wearing a seat belt.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: "It's not the policy of Thames Valley Police to set targets for individual officers to meet.

"But in order to meet national and local priorities, it's sometimes the case that individual teams, within a variety of departments, will be set targets.

"Our aim is to reduce crime. That does not necessarily involve arresting a large number of people."

Thames Valley was the only force allowed to set its own targets in robbery, burglary and car crime, after Chief Constable Peter Neyroud said the Government's targets were unrealistic given the force's problems of staff retention.

The police authority set targets of reducing robbery by 10 per cent, burglary by five per cent and vehicle crime by six per cent.

The Home Office wanted the force to cut robbery by 25 per cent, burglary by 11.5 per cent and vehicle crime by 10 per cent.

The force is introducing an automatic number plate recognition system for road policing vehicles, which is expected to increase substantially the number of people arrested.