Police take to Twitter to show just how overloaded this ‘removals’ lorry was when they stopped it today in Cambridgeshire

Police stopped an overweight in lorry, then unloaded it to show how in excess of the limit it was (Image: Archant)

The lorry looked like it was carrying too much weight and so officers from the Beds, Cambs and Herts Roads Policing Unit decided to stop it.

When they did they needed to show both the driver – and now the world – what they found.

Stacked inside was evidence of a removals operation on a vast scale.

But as officers looked inside the back, perplexed, they felt the only way to get the load down to a legal limit was to unload.

Police stopped an overweight in lorry, then unloaded it to show how in excess of the limit it was (Image: Archant)

And so began ‘operation stash’ as police ordered removal of stacking boxes and ancillary items from the back of the truck.

Slowly the side of the road at Sawtry was piled high with assorted goods all removed from the lorry.

And while the lorry’s occupants unloaded, police took photos – which they later posted to Twitter- showing the scale of the issue.

“Overweight van prohibited at Sawtry,” tweeted the Beds, Cambs and Herts Roads Policing Unit.

“Before and after pictures when at legal weight limit.”

Later tweets failed to show what happened to the driver or to the goods piled alongside the lorry.

But clearly a second trip – or another lorry- was going to be needed.