Man makes obscene gestures to HGV full of police

The van driver was one of more than 50 people fined during a four-day police operation

A van driver who made "obscene hand gestures" to occupants of an HGV soon learned they were on-duty police when he was pulled over.

The Nottinghamshire force said the man was travelling on the M1 motorway on Friday morning when he began gesticulating at the passing vehicle, which was being used by officers as part of a road safety operation.

The van driver, pulled over by a police car, was then given a talking to at the roadside, the force said.

He was found to not be wearing a seatbelt for which he was fined, before being sent on his way with some words of advice, the force added.

PC Pearce Riley said: "[While] this incident understandably caused some amusement among the team, the potential consequences of not wearing a seatbelt really are no laughing matter.

"Had this man been involved in a motorway collision, his chances of walking away uninjured—or even walking away at all—would have been greatly reduced.

"And that's why we do these operations: not to catch people out, but to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on our road network."

The van driver was one of more than 50 people fined during the four-day operation.