A total of 240 offences were identified by police during an operation on the M5 motorway.

During the two-day initiative, Avon and Somerset officers joined their colleagues in Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall to clampdown on driving offences – using an unmarked National Highways HGV vehicle.

Among the offences identified were:

  • 18 people driving without a seatbelt
  • A driver using a mobile phone at the wheel
  • Three cases of driving with an insecure load
  • And one case of a person driving on the hard shoulder

Offences were filmed and vehicles were stopped by supporting police vehicles following the HGV, saod a police spokesperson, leading to fines and licence points for those driving dangerously.

The two days of action came as part of Op Peninsula, a multi-agency campaign to improve safety and safe driving behaviours in the South West.

The operation saw Avon and Somerset Police team up with National Highways, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Devon and Cornwall Police and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

In total, 240 offences were recorded on the South West’s motorways during the operation.

In one instance, Avon and Somerset police officers filmed a car take to the hard shoulder to avoid sitting in queueing traffic near junction 23 (Wells/Glastonbury/Burnham), seen in the video below.

The car driver has since received a traffic summons.

According to Department for Transport figures, more than 100 people are killed or seriously injured each year on the hard shoulders of UK motorways.

There are only two legal uses for the hard shoulder – as a lane for emergency vehicles attending an incident and as a refuge for broken down vehicles. Using it at any other time unless instructed to do so by traffic officers or roadwork signs can result in a £100 fine and three licence points.

Acting Sergeant Martyn Truscott, of the Avon and Somerset Police Roads Policing Unit, said: “It was disappointing to see some motorists indulging in poor and illegal driving behaviours that selfishly put the lives of others are risk.

“We hope that awareness of our operation and a reminder that we police our roads using patrol cars and unmarked vehicles will remind drivers to check their own behaviours.

“Safety is our priority and we continue to work proactively to monitor and take action against those putting others are risk”.

Members of the public can report dangerous driving and submit dashcam footage via the police website.