11-year-old arrested for towing suspected stolen caravan on M1 at Garforth

Police say they were "staggered" when they stopped an 11-year-old boy behind the wheel of a car towing a stolen caravan on the M1.

Officers were called at around 3.30pm on Thursday after the caravan was stolen from a holiday site near Thirsk.

A BMW X5 seen towing the vehicle was tracked travelling south on the A1 to the M1 at Garforth.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: "Forty-five minutes after the caravan was reported stolen, we stopped the vehicle on the M1 after it left the A1 at Hook Moor Interchange near Garforth.

"But nothing prepared us for finding the school-boy sat at the wheel."

Road traffic officer Sgt Paul Cording posted on X: "Even after over 23 years' service, you come across things that you struggle to comprehend. Like yesterday when some great fast track work from the team identified a recently stolen caravan being towed by a vehicle on false plates, but then to find the driver was only 11 years old."

The BMW, which was stopped on the hard shoulder, was fitted with cloned plates.

Police found equipment used to carry out thefts and a number of vehicle registration plates.

The boy was arrested on suspicion of offences including theft, burglary, going equipped for theft and motoring offences including dangerous driving.

He has been released on conditional police bail while enquiries continue.

Nobody was injured in the incident.

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