Artic runaway on the M1 Runaway: Police helicopter view of Rayner's Scania.
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• Police are investigating how an R-reg Scania came to run out of control at speeds of around 70mph for 20 miles along the MI after its accelerator became stuck.
The vehicle, brought into service in January by waste operator Polkacrest, was finally halted on Sunday morning by its driver when he was forced to turn off the engine and smash into the hard-shoulder crash barrier at Scratchwood services.
Agency driver Michael Rayner, 25, from Potters Bar, alerted police on his mobile phone that the R1 2.4's accelerator had jammed. An escort of five police cars and a helicopter followed the unladen truck as it weaved its way south along the M1 from J10 at high speed. It is not yet clear how the vehicle came to exceed its limited speed of 56mph. Rayner was taking a few days off work this week to recover. The police have praised him for his "ability to keep calm", but others have questioned his actions. Spokesmen for Kent-based Polkacrest and the Hertfordshire agency ADR, which employs Rayner, say both companies are willing to co-operate with the police investigation. Scania says: "We've never known it to happen to any of our vehicles before."