Story by: Alex Cope, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

This hilarious footage shows a sleeping policeman slumped in the boot of his patrol car instead of operating the speed trap camera next to him as motorists whizz by.

The moment was captured by an onlooker at the side of the N1 motorway near the city of Bloemfontein in the province of Free State in South Africa.

In the video, an overweight police officer in full uniform can be seen stood leaning on the open boot of his car seemingly sound asleep.

The person recording walks up to the cop but the officer does not stir so the camera is then taken to record the police car’s registration number, which is out of date having expired at the end of November.

A camera used to monitor the speed of traffic can be seen set up next to the sleeping officer and a car has seemingly been pulled over.

The video was posted onto social media where the user who uploaded sarcastically asked others if they thought traffic officers were “overworked”.

It is unclear if the Free State police are investigating the case or if the officer in the video, who has not been identified in reports, has been punished.

Picture Credit: CEN