Giant octopus stranded in Oxford Circus causes traffic mayhem

A giant octopus was left stranded in central London this morning, leading bemused commuters to capture snaps of the eight-legged creature on their way to work as it sat strapped to the back of a lorry.

The surreal pictures show the beached octopus as it travelled through London, before coming to a standstill at Oxford Circus and causing traffic “mayhem”.

Twitter user Sophie Harrison said the creature looked “lost”, while Transport for London (TfL) warned passersby to “approach with care”.

Roman Self-Drive, the vehicle hire service transporting the polystyrene octopus, told The Independent they were aware one of their vans were being used to transport a giant octopus around London, and believed it may be related to the World Cup.

The octopus is owned by bookmaker Betfair, who said it was being taken to a film location when the van transporting it broke down. It issued an apology on Twitter for any inconvenience caused.

TfL said the vehicle has since been repositioned and is now blocking just one lane on Regent Street. It could not provide any further details on where the giant figure was heading.