Police are to examine internet footage of a man driving at almost double the motorway speed limit.

The video shows the driver apparently taking his car to 125mph on the M23 near Crawley.

The three-minute clip is shot by the driver and shows him shooting down the outside lane of the motorway. Other motorists are seen swerving out of the way. The driver then films the speedometer to demonstrate his speed.

A police spokesman said: "That is a matter that will be considered for investigation for our road policing department.

"It's certainly something we would not agree with. If identified, strong consideration will be given to prosecution. It was a stupid thing to do."

The clip was posted on the website YouTube by "paulscav".

He posted that he was 23, and later took the clip down. A YouTube spokesman said it did not comment on individual videos.

He added: "YouTube is a community site used by millions of people in very positive ways. As with any form of communication, there is a tiny minority of people who try to break the rules.

"On YouTube, these rules prohibit content like gratuitous violence or hate speech.

"We have a very successful flagging system on YouTube that lets users alert us to inappropriate content.

"When a video is flagged, we review it against our terms of use and remove it if the video breaks these standards and suspend the accounts of repeat offenders.

"Footage like people driving fast in cars is commonplace on television, whether in real life programmes or in dramas and films. So this sort of content is not only found on the internet.

"Of course, if there is any illegal activity taking place or if the police think that a video may be evidence of a crime, then we encourage the police to get in touch with us under the laws the Government introduced for disclosure of data."

andy.dickenson@theargus.co.uk

To see video footage of the high-speed drive, click here