THIS is the moment an unmarked HGV cab caught a lorry driver making notes while travelling along the motorway.

The footage, which was filmed by Greater Manchester Police, captured the driver writing on an A4 notepad while travelling along the M6 near junction 22 at Winwick and 21A at Croft.

John Walford, incident prevention manager at Highways England, said: “We began the HGV cab initiative three years ago as part of the work we’re doing to improve safety on motorways and major A roads, and we’ve been impressed by the impact it has had.

“Police officers have pulled over more than 5,000 drivers for offences which could have resulted in serious collisions, either because road users have got into bad habits or are simply ignoring the law.

“We’ve found that the vast majority of drivers are sensible behind the wheel but some are putting themselves."

The police cab is set to take to the road for the final time after catching more 5,000 careless drivers in the past three years.

But Highways England is now funding three new HGV supercabs after the single cab, which has been used by police forces across the country, stopped a total of 5,408 drivers in relation to 6,257 offences.

The three new supercabs will patrol motorways and main roads across England, and have been fitted with wide-angle cameras to capture unsafe driving behaviour.

The cabs allow police officers to film evidence of unsafe driving by pulling up alongside vehicles. Drivers are then pulled over by police cars following behind.

The most common offences filmed using the unmarked HGV cab include using a mobile phone, not wearing a seatbelt, speeding and drivers not in proper control of their vehicles.

One driver pulled over by Devon and Cornwall Police was found to have sent 10 replies to 10 texts within one hour while a motorist in Surrey was seen trying to put toothpaste on a toothbrush.

Another driver in the East Midlands was spotted steering with his knees while he ate his lunch and used his mobile phone.

Last year, the Government doubled the penalty for drivers caught using their phones at the wheel.

Motorists now receive six points on their licence and a £200 fine.