Twelve women were detained by Saudi police in various parts of the kingdom for violating traffic regulations that prevent women from driving, a report said.

Security patrols arrested three Saudi women on Sunday, all of them in their 40s, for driving cars in different neighborhoods in Makkah, the Arab News report said quoting Col. Salman Al-Jemiei, director of the Makkah Traffic Department.

The women were referred to authorities as per instructions issued to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution, it said.

Security authorities in Jeddah also arrested two women on Sunday and another woman was also arrested on the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway, it said.