A trial using the police trucks on some of Britain's busiest motorways has uncovered “frightening” examples of HGV drivers watching DVDs, using laptop computers and playing video games.

The worst case saw one commercial trucker warming up food on a stove in his cab, police said.

Officers hailed the police truck – a Scania tractor unit which normally hauls a 44-tonne trailer - as a success and forces are hoping to deploy them across the country.

PC Angus Nairn of the Central Motorway Police Group said: "Some of what we have found has been frightening. We have had a driver watching a DVD, another one sorting through CDs, one using laptop as a sat nav system and even someone warming up food on a small stove.

"The consequences of them not paying attention to the road are potentially disastrous to everyone else on the motorway.

"We have taken a bit of flack from some truckers who think it is sneaky but the vast majority of motorists are grateful that we are watching commercial drivers carefully and checking on them."

Until now ordinary motorway patrols have been unable to see up into a cab to check if a driver is committing an offence like using a mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt.

In the new trucks, one officer drives while a second uses a hand-held video to capture other HGV drivers on film. If they are committing any offence they are pulled over by a marked police car.

The police lorry was launched with full 999-livery and blue flashing lights.

The CMPG is now using unmarked lorry cabs to catch truckers breaking the law on roads in the Midlands, including the M5 and M6, the M42 and M54 as well as the M6 toll road.

Paul Hutton was given a mandatory three-year ban because he had received another drink-drive ban within the past ten years

Photo: PETER LAWSON/EASTNEWS PRESS

Paul Hutton, 40, was pulled over by police as he drove an electric Barbie car, which moves slower than a mobility scooter, near his home in Essex.

Mr Hutton, who has four children Simon, 17, Calum, 14, Laina, 12, and John, 11, admitted being a 'complete twit'.

Speaking after the hearing at Colchester magistrates court, he said: "You have to be a contortionist to get in, and then you can't get out.

"I was very surprised to get done for drink-driving but I was a twit to say the least.

"It is designed for three-to-five-year-olds.

"Originally it was a pink Barbie car but I put bigger wheels on it but it's not fast.

"I'm not unhappy with my punishment, just a little bit surprised."

Mr Hutton, who is divorced, is a former RAF aeronautical engineer who now studies electrical engineering at Colchester Institute.

He explained: "I'm in the third year of my electrical engineering course and it was a little project I was doing with my son who is doing a car mechanics course.

"When it was done I couldn't resist the temptation to take it out."

Mr Hutton, was found to be twice the drink-drive limit, he said.

Appearing before magistrates last week, he admitted driving the toy car while drunk.

He was given a mandatory three-year ban because he had received another drink-drive ban within the past ten years.

Magistrates also gave him a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £85 court costs.

Chairman of the bench Neil Munson said: "This is most unusual.

"I have never seen the like of it in 15 years on the bench.

"The vehicle is not even capable of doing the speed of a mobility scooter and could be outrun by a pedestrian.

"Taking this into account, we feel we can impose a sentence of a conditional discharge for a period of 12 months."

The car was confiscated by police until the hearing but Mr Hutton now hopes to get it back.