A motorist who parked on the hard shoulder of a motorway to roll a cannabis joint was one of almost 800 offenders detected by police in a week-long crackdown on driving manners.

Strathclyde Police's campaign aimed at highlighting bad habits on the region's motorways also stopped motorists for having dogs on their laps, reading maps and talking on mobile phones while driving.

The force said 179 drivers were warned for their motoring manners on major routes and trunk roads.

These included three coach drivers who were warned for talking to passengers on the microphone while driving through the Argyll countryside.

The variety and amount of offences is quite startling

Chief Inspector David McConnell

One driver was found to be carrying eight members of his family in one car on the M74 last week.

After being stopped by police, four children and one adult were found in the rear of the car, and an adult with a child was in the front passenger seat.

Another driver was detected speeding through a roadworks area with a restricted speed limit on the M74 whilst talking on a mobile phone.

Officers carried out a number of checks on caravans, cars with boat trailers and bikes and motorhomes across the force area.

A number of vehicles were found to have mechanical defects and at one check in Argyll, 26 drivers of tourist vehicles were warned for driver fatigue.

Motorway manners

The crackdown found dangerous habits among non-drivers, with police having to warn pedestrians about wandering across busy motorways.

Chief Inspector David McConnell, at the Strathclyde Police Road Policing Complex, said: "Police detected or warned drivers for almost 800 offences during the seven-day crackdown on motorway manners.

"That's an awful lot of poor drivers who may put the lives of other drivers and passengers at risk when travelling on major trunk roads across the force area.

"The variety and amount of offences is quite startling."

A number of drivers were asked to attend road safety seminars, while others were advised on the correct fitting of child safety seats and the effects of driver fatigue.