INCONSPICUOUSLY disguised as a couple of truck drivers going about their business, these police officers are now going undercover in a bid to catch people driving dangerously on the A12 .
Blissfully ignorant of the unmarked silver lorry driving alongside him, one driver was caught talking on his mobile phone and wearing no seatbelt.
"I wasn't on my phone, I promise you. I have an ear infection and I stuck my finger in my ear," protested the 64-year-old lorry driver, from Birmingham.
"I have been a driver for 43 years and I was just on my way back home. I've got a doctor's appointment for my ear tonight.
"I'm driving back to Birmingham now; I've just picked up a delivery of car parts for Land Rovers in Essex.
"Check my phone," he said to police officer Martin Ackers, "You can check it and it will show no history of being on the phone at that time.
"I did see you coming down behind me, so why on earth would I have been on my phone if I saw you?
"I admit I was not wearing my seatbelt but I was not on my phone. You can check my mobile phone bill."
Then PC Ackers produced a photo taken by a Chronicle photographer riding in the cab. It showed the lorry driver with the phone to his ear (pictured above left).
"Are you really trying to tell me you weren't on your phone when we have this photo of you?" he asked the driver.
The driver then revealed he was a convicted murderer on a life licence and only denied the offence because he did not want to get into any trouble that might end up with him going back to jail.
After being handed a £60 fine for not wearing his seatbelt, and another £60 fine and three points on his licence for using a phone at the wheel, PC Ackers said: "I have been doing this job for a while, but I have never seen anything like this before."
The undercover police truck continues Essex Police's long-running crackdown on dangerous lorries and commercial vehicles using the A12 – in particular unsafe foreign vehicles or motorists driving for long periods without a rest – whilst also targeting drivers who flout the basic laws of the road, like driving without a seatbelt or using their phones at the wheel.
It is usually joined by a group of police motorcyclists and a marked car, which can be called upon to do the paperwork for the fines.
PC Al Cuthbertson, who has worked in the Casualty Reduction Unit for 14 years and is part of the undercover truck team, said: "It has been very effective actually as we are so high up that we can look right down into drivers' laps. We've seen some lovely gloves and lovely nail polish.
"When you're on a motorcycle you know people are on their phone but it is difficult to see.
"The majority of people don't expect this truck to be a police vehicle.
"It is fair to say that the amount of seatbelt wearing amongst truck drivers is below that of car drivers.
"It is busy and it is such an interesting and exciting place to work, and I get to drive a truck like this so I am a very lucky boy."
PC Cuthbertson is not concerned that the Chronicle's pictures of the lorry will blow their cover, insisting it will instead make people more wary of any silver lorry they see.
Sitting next to him in the truck, PC Ackers added: "This is a can-do office. Our manager, Adam Pipe, is always telling us we can do everything."
On the day they caught nine people without seatbelts and six on their mobile phones.
"We hear all kinds of excuses," said motorcycle officer Mick Wills.
"I just stopped a guy who was arguing he had his seatbelt under his arm, but when I told him you don't get any points on your licence for not wearing your seatbelt, he admitted it and took the fine."
The A12, which is still considered by many to be one of Britain's most dangerous roads, is a hotspot for crashes, many attributed to the foreign lorry drivers coming from the port at Harwich who are more likely to get lost or are not used to driving on the left.
"The A12 is one of Britain's number one roads for arrests and the number of people killed or seriously injured," said PC Ackers.
"This road really needs to be targeted quite heavily really. The big accident with the rubbish lorry last week just shows how dangerous it is here."
