Lorry drivers 'watch TV' on road

Operation Oratorio stopped about 1,500 vehicles

Lorry drivers have been caught with televisions wired up in their cabs so they can watch programmes while driving.

During a month-long operation in Cornwall, police discovered trucks with screens attached to their dashboards.

About 1,500 lorries were stopped during the initiative named Operation Oratorio.

A quarter of the vehicles stopped were also found to be carrying loads above the legal weight limit.

Truckers can have TVs in their sleeping quarters

PC Ron Henderson, from Camborne Traffic Centre, said: "HGV drivers were putting portable screens on the dashboard to watch the football and Wimbledon."

It is illegal for lorry drivers to have televisions within their view while driving, but screens are allowed in sleeping quarters of a drivers' cab.

The main aim of the operation was to stop overloaded lorries transporting crops for sale outside Cornwall.

"If a vehicle is overloaded then the brakes, suspension and steering are not designed to cope with the excess weight," Mr Henderson explained.

A BBC investigation earlier this year found thousands of lorry drivers were putting the lives of other motorists at risk by working longer hours than legally allowed.

BBC Five Live found that one in five serious accidents involving heavy goods vehicles were caused by tiredness.