Dashcam footage shows thief’s escape from police across six lanes of motorway traffic

Suspect fled from stolen van being towed on M61 near Bolton

A thief escaped from police by running across six lanes of motorway traffic.

Dashcam footage captured the man dodging between cars and lorries on the M61 near Bolton, Greater Manchester.

He miraculously managed to cross the busy road without being hit or causing an accident.

The man also evaded arrest and so far remains at large.

“There’s no way I’m running across 6 lanes of a live motorway as I want to make it home safe at the end of a shift,” an officer using a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Twitter account said in reply to a user who asked if the man was apprehended.

The footage was captured by GMP traffic officers at around 4pm on Wednesday.

At first police can be seen tailing a van which was towing another van.

After ushering the vehicles onto a hard shoulder, a man burst from the rear van and ran a short distance up the road before crossing in front of a lorry.

Police arrested the driver of the lead van on suspicion of theft, after it emerged the rear van had been stolen and was using false number plates.

“I’m happy enough that one of the two offenders are now sat in a cell,” the officer added.

Additional reporting by SWNS