Police caught a bin lorry driver using a handheld mobile phone while behind the wheel.

Roads Policing Unit officers stopped the Wiltshire Council-run vehicle at around 1pm on Wednesday.

Cllr Nick Holder, Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet member for Waste, said: “We are very concerned to hear about this and have contacted our contractors Hills Municipal Collections Limited and asked them to look into this immediately and take appropriate action to ensure this is prevented from happening again.”

The male driver was issued with a Traffic Offence Report.

A Wiltshire Specialist Operations spokesperson said: “RPU with the bin lorry stopped after the driver was seen using a mobile phone at the wheel.

“Rubbish excuse provided and paperwork issued.”

The stop was part of the force's Project Zero campaign, and its crackdown on what it calls the 'fatal five'.

Project Zero is a roads policing operation held every Wednesday at a different location in the county in a bid to reduce the number of casualties on Wiltshire’s roads.

It sees officers targeting drivers committing any of the 'fatal five' offences that are the most common causes of fatal road traffic accidents: drink/drug driving, careless driving, driving at excess speed, driving without a seatbelt, and using a mobile phone.