Watch: Man drinks tea while driving - and has a dashboard cupholder

The driver removed both hands from the wheel while drinking from his mug.

British police in an unmarked lorry have been filmed telling a driver sipping tea to “concentrate on the road” as part of crackdown on unsafe driving on a key motorway.

The video, which was released by the police, shows the driver being reprimanded by the undercover officer after they caught him removing both hands from the wheel while drinking from his mug.

The officer can be seen shouting to the driver, who was travelling down the UK’s M6 to Cheshire, that he might want to put his cup of tea down and focus on his driving.

The unwitting driver was caught as part of a crackdown on unsafe driving on motorways in the north of England last year, which saw hundreds of drivers caught flouting the rules of the road by unmarked police heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).

The driver was issued with a traffic offence for not being in control of his vehicle, while being hit with a fine of £100 (NZ$203) and having three points added to his licence.

Police forces across the north of England are launching Operation Pennine, which will again see police use HGVs to catch out dangerous drivers.

Police in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, West Yorkshire, Hull and Liverpool will patrol the M62, which stretches between Liverpool and Hull. The operation starts on Friday and will run throughout October.

It comes as part of an initiative to protect road users after 28,607 incidents of illegal driving were found on the M62 last year, with 1,651 being traffic collisions.

The use of unmarked HGVs is a well-used tactic by police to try and catch out unsafe drivers. From their elevated position in the HGV’s cab, officers can spot unsafe driving behaviour – whatever vehicle the motorist may be in.

Last year, National Highways released a video of a man using only his elbow to drive a transporter carrying two vans as part of its Operation Freeway initiative on the M1.

Lisa Scott, National Highways’ regional safety programme manager for the North West, said: “Hundreds of thousands of drivers use our roads every day and the vast majority are sensible behind the wheel.”

“However, some drivers are putting themselves and others at risk through using mobile phones, driving without a seatbelt or even handling a boiling hot drink at the wheel.

“We are committed to reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured while travelling on our roads by 50 per cent by 2025 and we have a long-term ambition for zero harm. To achieve that, we need to tackle the unsafe driving behaviour that we sadly still encounter.

“Through this month of action, we want to encourage motorists to think about their driving and to adopt safer behaviours.”