A Nottingham man has been banned from driving for 18 months after moving to the passenger seat of his car when switching on its "autopilot" feature.

Nottingham Police said Bhavesh Patel, 39, switched on his Tesla S 60's autopilot before moving across to the passenger seat, leaving the car without a driver, the Nottingham Post reports.

Patel was also filmed by a passenger in another car appearing to have his hands behind his head in the passenger seat.

A witness, who spotted the vehicle with no-one in the driving seat, said they thought the car was traveling at around 60 KPH.

This video shows Patel's car coming alongside another motorist.

Patel, from Nottingham, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving over the incident on the motorway near Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire, at around 7.40pm on May 21 last year.

At St Albans Crown Court, he was banned from driving for 18 months, ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and 10 days' rehabilitation, and told to pay £1,800 costs, police said.

Patel told officers he knew what he had done was "silly", but said the car was capable of something "amazing" and that he was "the unlucky one who got caught".

Pc Kirk Caldicutt, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire road policing unit told the Nottingham Post: "What Patel did was grossly irresponsible and could have easily ended in tragedy.

"He not only endangered his own life but the lives of other innocent people using the motorway that day.

"This case should serve as an example to all drivers who have access to autopilot controls and have thought about attempting something similar.

"I want to stress that they are in no way a substitute for a competent motorist in the driving seat who can react appropriately to the road ahead."