Dashcam footage captured the moment a Mercedes driver who had tried to skip queues on the M40 by driving down the hard shoulder got caught in the act by an unmarked police car.

The Mercedes was seen on Dan Haynes’ dashcam brazenly skipping past stationary traffic on the M40 near High Wycombe with the vehicle’s hazard lights on.

But just seconds later, the Mercedes driver got their comeuppance as an unmarked police car suddenly turned on their blue flashing lights and chased after them.

Dan, who lives in Daventry but travels across the UK for his first aid training business, can be heard laughing in the background as the police car in front of him “lit up like a Christmas tree” and pulled the driver over yards down the road.

He said: “Never a better sight this morning, watching some Merc driving down the hard shoulder on the M40 to beat the queue, then watching the car in front of me light up like a Xmas tree. Yep, unmarked cop car wiped the SMerc of his face.”

Using the hard shoulder of a motorway should be an “absolute last resort” according to Ingenie, a car insurance broker for young drivers.

Stopping illegally on the hard shoulder could see you get a minimum £100 fine and three driving licence penalty points.