M18 motorway halted as cops chase car on wrong side of carriageway between Rotherham and Doncaster

Police brought a South Yorkshire motorway to a standstill in the early hours before arresting a man who tried to drive the wrong way down the carriageway to escape.

Officers had been pursuing a car in the early hours of Monday morning (January 29) when the driver tried to escape by driving north on the southbound carriageway of the M18, near junction two in a silver Ford Mondeo.

National Highways had said on Monday that traffic had been stopped in both directions on the M18 northbound between junction one, Rotherham, and junction two, Doncaster, for a police operation.

The car was stopped at around 1am by South Yorkshire Police traffic officers

Police said in a statement: "On Monday (29 January) at 12.58am, Roads Policing Officers attempted to stop a silver Ford Mondeo due to its manner of driving.

"The Ford failed to stop, which resulted in a pursuit. The vehicle was tactically stopped on the M18 southbound near junction two, as it tried to drive contraflow going northbound on the southbound carriageway.

"A 27-year-old man was arrested for going equipped to steal and causing danger to road users."

A man has since been charged with causing danger to other road users and released on bail pending a court appearance. 

Anyone with information that could help officers in their investigation is asked to call 101 and quote incident number 28 of January 29, 2024.