Police charged an unlicenced street sweeper driver on the Mitchell Freeway

Police impounded a street sweeper on Tuesday, alleging its driver was unlicensed while travelling at an illegal speed on the freeway.

Officers stopped the service vehicle heading south about 10.10pm near the Warwick Road exit.

The traffic patrollers recorded the sweeper travelling at 48km/h ” 32km/h below the freeway’s 80km/h minimum speed.

While the contract vehicle was doing work for Main Roads that night, the City of Joondalup will ask the company why appropriate checks were not taken to ensure the man was licensed.

Traffic Enforcement Group Senior Sergeant Paul Lopes said officers discovered the 43-year-old man’s licence was suspended on demerit points after questioning him about his slow speed.

Sen-Sgt Lopes explained having the relevant operating tickets for the vehicle was not enough to drive it in the street.

‘It’s a registered vehicle and it can be driven on the road so you do need to have a current valid driver’s licence to operate it,’ he said.

The vehicle was impounded for 28 days and the man was charged with no authority to drive.

Sen-Sgt Lopes said the driver was not fined for travelling under the minimum speed limit.