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Northumbria Police officers are taking centre stage in a new TV series.

Motorway Cops: Catching Britain's Speeders premieres on Channel 5 at 8pm on Easter Monday.

A TV crew has followed teams from the Motor Patrols section for the last five months as they dealt with a wide range of challenges across the force area from a collision or a road-side stop – to tracking down a wanted person and helping people in need.

Motorway Cops stars Sgt Dave Roberts, constable Mary-Anne Hutchison and constable Jan Simlesa.

The first episode of the 20-long run sees Sergeant Dave Roberts and his team tracking a wanted man from Newcastle to South Shields, an irate van driver with illegal tyres and no MOT and a speeder clocked doing over 100mph on the Coast Road in North Tyneside.

Sgt Roberts is delighted to be able to show what the job entails and jumped at the chance to take part. Dave has been with the force for more than three decades and is in his second stint in the section: "I have been in Motor Patrols this time for around five-and-a-half years," he said.

"I have been in the job for 30 years altogether and I was a traffic PC back in the late 90s"

He was 'over the moon' with the chance to showcase what the job entails: "The force was approached by a production company who were seeking volunteers and I jumped all over it," he said.

"What an excellent chance to show what we do. It was a really exciting opportunity and I was over the moon to be a part of it.

"And it was not just a one-way process. Being asked questions about our work was really healthy. People asking 'Why are you doing that, why do you do it that way?', it really helped us to understand our own way f working, so it has been really instructive."

Dave is no stranger to TV - he appeared on Good Morning Britain after being pushed off the road during a pursuit - but he is braced for a new level of recognition.

"It is going to happen," he said.

"I didn't really think too much abut it at the time, but here we are. I've done other local media bits and pieces but the fall-out from that is minimal."

The Northumbria Police officers take starring role in new series of Motorway Cops