Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Man who flipped his car trying ‘to avoid an octopus’ arrested on suspicion of drug-driving

‘It isn’t even that close to the sea – though to be fair it was wet yesterday’

Harry Cockburn
Wednesday 06 February 2019 14:29 GMT
Comments
An octopus on a beach
An octopus on a beach (Shutterstock)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of drug-driving in Devon after a “serious” car crash he said happened when he “swerved to avoid an octopus”.

The car ploughed through a hedge and overturned after leaving the A381 near Kingsbridge at about 5.15pm on Tuesday.

Writing on Facebook, the official account for the Kingsbridge area of Devon and Cornwall Police said: “Emergency services are currently dealing with a single vehicle RTC on the A381 by the South Milton turn where a car has overturned.

“The driver stated he swerved to avoid an octopus. He is currently in custody on suspicion of drug-driving.”

A spokeswoman for the force said: “He did a bit of a slow roll into a ditch. An ambulance went out and the driver was checked over by paramedics but there weren’t injuries enough to go to hospital.”

The man, from Salcombe, was arrested on suspicion of driving while unfit through drugs or drink and remains in custody.

A local woman who did not want to be named told The Independent: “A car was driving down the road and obviously it turned over onto its roof and into a field. The driver said he was avoiding an octopus. It isn’t even that close to the sea – though to be fair it was wet yesterday.”

Octopuses are found in waters around the British south coast, but to reach the crash site, it would have had to have crawled over three and a half miles of hilly terrain, or even further if it stuck to the roads.

Katy Kendell, who works in a local pub, told The Independent: “I drove past the incident this morning and the car is completely over the hedge. It wasn’t a minor crash, it was quite serious.

“It’s not common to have octopuses on the road. No, I’ve never heard of anything like that before.”

On the Kingsbridge Police Facebook page, users made a variety of jokes about the incident.

Local woman Kate Moss wrote: “I presume they’ve checked the squid marks to see how fast he was going?!”

The A381 by the South Milton turn where the driver claimed he accidentally crashed his car while trying to avoid an octopus
The A381 by the South Milton turn where the driver claimed he accidentally crashed his car while trying to avoid an octopus (Google)

“Glad to see you’re kraken down on irresponsible drivers!” said Pepsi-Rae Beaton.

Paul Gaylard said: “The police will be suckers if they fall for that excuse.”

No trace of an octopus was found by the police.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Additional reporting by PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in