Traffic Scotland said dog leaned on controls of tractor in a field, causing it to go through a fence and on to M74 in South Lanarkshire

There was traffic chaos along a busy stretch of motorway after a sheepdog called Don “took control of a tractor” and drove it on to the road.

Traffic Scotland reported that a dog had leaned on the controls of the tractor, which was in an adjacent field, and caused it to go through a fence and on to the M74 in South Lanarkshire at 8.15am on Wednesday. The tractor then crossed the motorway before crashing into the central reservation.

“M74 (N) J13-RTC due to dog taking control of tractor … nope, not joking. Farmer and police at scene, vehicle in central res,” the traffic body tweeted.

It later provided an update: “M74 (N) at J13 – Route is clear from earlier incident and dog is fine. Has to be the weirdest thing we have ever reported! No delays in area.”

It has since been revealed that the dog took the tractor belonging to farmer Tom Hamilton while he was busy tending to a lamb. Neither Don nor Tom was injured in the incident.

Hamilton told ITV: “I was out in the mini-tractor and had stepped out of it to get a lamb, which looked like it was about to get out of the gate. I had not put the brake on the tractor and when I turned round I got a fright as the vehicle was careering down the hill, through a gate and on to the M74.”

Social media was awash with dog puns as a result of the incident. Tony T wrote: “Police investigating, so far no leads.” Beverley Friend added: “This is barking”, and Michelle Muirhead asked: “Will the dog have points on his licence? Was he breathalysed? Did police arrest him?”