95-year-old drove wrong way up A12

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Police stopped a 95-year-old motorist who drove the wrong way up the A12 in Essex for nearly five miles, prompting more than 20 emergency calls.

Other drivers flashed their lights but the man kept heading north in the southbound lane so road policing patrol cars and local police shut slip roads to prevent traffic heading south. The Essex Police helicopter was scrambled and the A12 Alliance team, which patrols the road, was also called.

The pensioner was stopped when he turned off at Mountnessing, south of Chelmsford, and driven home to Colchester by police. The man surrendered his driving licence to the A12 Alliance team when they visited him the next day.

Pc Alan Barlow of the A12 Alliance patrol team said "Numerous police resources were used to stop this man and to safeguard other members of the public. Luckily on this occasion no-one was injured."

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