Truckers in wrong-way driver alert

LIVES WERE SAVED after quick-thinking lorry drivers alerted motorway users to an elderly motorist heading the wrong way down the M6.

The Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) said hauliers on the northbound M6 in Warwickshire had "shadowed" the wrong-way driver, whose car was travelling north on the southbound carriageway.

The motorist is thought to have suffered a major medical episode and is being treated in hospital.

In a statement issued on its Twitter account, the CMPG thanked professional truck drivers for "excellent work" in warning oncoming traffic and preventing a more serious incident.

The elderly driver was first spotted at about 11pm yesterday and eventually came to a halt in the outside lane of the motorway between junctions 3 and 4.

A spokesman for Warwickshire Police said the force received a number of calls from members of the public reporting a vehicle travelling north at speed on the southbound carriageway near Coleshill.

The Nissan Qashqai was stopped by officers from West Midlands Police at about 10.50pm and the driver, who is not from Warwickshire, was taken to hospital for treatment for an unspecified medical condition.

By Matthew Cooper, Press Association