Police will be carrying out extra patrols around the county to catch law-breaking commercial drivers.

Officers will be stopping lorries, vans, buses, plant vehicles, agricultural machinery and taxis as part of a nationwide campaign.

With commercial vehicles, there is a whole raft of potential offences including exceeding driver hours, insecure loads, overweight vehicles and dangerous loads.

The extra patrols will be taking place between today (July 17) and Sunday (July 23) primarily on heavily used roads such as the A11 and the A47  in both marked and unmarked cars.

Drivers committing fatal four offences (drink/drug driving; speeding; using a mobile phone; and not wearing a seatbelt) will also be targeted.

It will also provide opportunities to disrupt those using roads for criminal purposes.

Chief Inspector Jon Chapman, head of the Norfolk and Suffolk Roads and Armed Policing Team, said: “Commercial vehicles account for a large percentage of the traffic on our roads and due to their size and in many cases their loads, they have the potential to cause the most damage if they are involved in a collision.

“People who drive these vehicles for a living are considered professional drivers, therefore they should take extra care when it comes to the safety of their vehicle and the manner of their driving.

“The primary focus of this operation is about making our roads safer and those found to be committing offences will be dealt with in a robust manner."