Car Driven Wrong Way Down Motorways

5 October 2011, 11:44 | Updated: 5 October 2011, 12:03

Two men have been arrested after a stolen car was driven the wrong way down the M1 and M25 for twenty miles.

The green Audi Quattro raced down the motorways' hard shoulders after the driver refused to pull over near Luton, just after 11am on Tuesday 4 October 2011.

Hertfordshire's police helicopter chased the car as it travelled south down the hard shoulder of the northbound M1 from Junction 10 to the interchange with the M25, and then as it continued travelling west on the hard shoulder of the eastbound M25.

The car eventually left the M25 at junction 19 and travelled on the A41 into Watford, where it came to a stop at The Dome roundabout on North Western Avenue.

Hertfordshire's police say two men made off from the car and were arrested shortly afterwards.  The force say they did not pursue the car on the road and no-one was hurt.

The driver of the stolen car was initially asked to pull over after an Automatic Number Plate Recognition Check identified the car as stolen.  Although police asked the driver to stop, the car continued and joined the M1 at Junction 10.

The sections of motorway where the chase took place are among the busiest in the UK.  One eyewitness told Heart they saw a car "flooring it" going the wrong way down the M1's hard shoulder towards Watford.