More than 1,000 speeding offences have been recorded in just one month by Gloucestershire Police's new weapon dubbed the 'Long eye of the law'.

Britain's biggest speed camera that can film a car a kilometre away is certainly making its presence felt.

Police in Gloucestershire are using the giant camera to tackle motoring offences such as speeding and tailgating.

And in less than a month since it was deployed, well over 1,200 speeding offences have been recorded with the worst offender clocked at 126 mph.

In total, 1,293 speeding offences were detected, of which 10 were speeding at 100mph or more.

32 other offences were detected, including five for tailgating, one for mobile phone usage, 19 for vehicle plate offences and seven for seatbelt offences.

However, its not just speed the camera is detecting, it has also led to six vehicles being seized for no insurance, and seven vehicles seized for no tax.

It has also led to an offensive weapon and ammunition being seized.

Gloucestershire Police crime commissioner Martin Surl said: "This is not about bashing the motorist.

"Many people have come to me with their concerns about speeding and other safety issues along this road.

"This is a new model of collaborative roads policing which, if it proves a success, can be put into practice elsewhere".

"With our current Tri-force arrangement with Wiltshire, Avon and Somerset coming to an end next year, local roads policing will return to local control, giving us the opportunity to do that".

The operation is centred on the A417 and the A419, a major route carrying up to 35,000 vehicles a day. which links Gloucestershire with Wiltshire and is a pathway between the M4 and M5 motorways.

It also has one of the worst accident records.

Speed guns have been able to detect how fast cars travel but the new camera produces clear video footage and still photographs of the people inside them.

During November, the camera was deployed at 35 different sites along the A417.