Motorway drivers call police

Drivers turned their heads in amazement as they overtook the rider, who was on the hard shoulder of the A1(M) near Doncaster.

The cyclist’s bout of motorway madness did not end when he reached the Wadworth interchange.

He turned onto the south-bound carriageway of the M18 and it was not until police caught up with him on the slip road of the Bramley interchange that the error of his ways was pointed out to him .

South Yorkshire Police started receiving mobile phone reports from motorists about him at 2.40pm on Monday.

They sent a car to look for him on the A1(M) but by the time they arrived he had switched to the M18.

Ten minutes later another patrol caught up with between junctions two and one and stopped on the slip road to give the 27-year-old man, who is not being named, a lecture.

He was riding a blue-and -white racing bike.

“He was spoken to and given a good ticking off,” said Mike Trees, of the road policing group.

“We were receiving reports of a cyclist on the hard shoulder and he was getting very close to heavy goods vehicles, which was obviously a serious danger.

“It was made clear to him it is not safe or legal to ride a cycle on a motorway.”

It is believed to be the first time in recent memory that a cyclist has been caught using South Yorkshire’s motorways.

An episode of the Traffic Cops documentary programme on TV showed a couple wheeling a pushchair along the hard shoulder of the M1 near Sheffield.

Cyclists have been told off for riding on the Sheffield Parkway, which is also against highway regulations.