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Pensioner on 4mph scooter halts 70mph traffic
Last Updated: 7:21am BST 22/04/2008

An elderly man on a motorised scooter was stopped by police as he travelled along a busy dual carriageway at 4mph.

Motorists on the A19 near Middlesbrough dialled 999 after swerving to avoid the man, who was thought to have been on the major route for two miles before he was stopped.

With his legs wrapped in a blanket against the evening chill and a wicker shopping basket attached to the front of his scooter, the man, who was not named, caused a huge tailback of traffic on Sunday evening.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," said Stuart Hopley, a motorist.

"The old guy was tootling along at about 4mph, with everybody else doing 70mph and beeping at him.

"It's quite amusing to think about it now, but at the time the consequences could have been horrific."

The man was stopped on the flyover at Portrack Lane, near Stockton.

A spokesman for Cleveland police said: "The gentleman was rather confused, but said he was trying to get to Billingham, which was four miles away.

"The officers got him off the dual carriageway and set him on his way along a cycle path."

It says in the highway Code that the only requirement for such a vehicle on a dual carriageway is to have an amber flashing light

It says in the highway Code that the only requirement for such a vehicle on a dual carriageway is to have an amber flashing light