Northamptonshire M1 U-turn drivers to avoid prosecution Published duration 30 December 2015

media caption The drivers were performing illegal manoeuvres to avoid a queue of traffic ahead

Drivers filmed performing "ridiculous" U-turns on the M1 will not be prosecuted, police have said.

CCTV footage was released showing a succession of vehicles, including a coach, making the manoeuvres near Crick, Northamptonshire in July.

Police were unable to trace the vehicles but said the footage had highlighted "selfish" driving.

Road safety charity Brake said the drivers "seemed to have got away" with their "risky behaviour".

Motorists drove the wrong way down a slip road to get off the M1, near Crick, to avoid a queue further ahead caused by a serious accident at Junction 19.

image copyright Northamptonshire Police image caption Police said the drivers were risking their lives and the lives of other road users

A coach driver was spoken to by police following the incident and resigned.

Brake spokesman Dave Nichols said the "selfish drivers" put their lives and other people's at risk.

"They seemed to have got away with their risky behaviour, despite it being caught on film," he said.

image copyright Northamptonshire Police image caption The footage showed vehicles turning around and going the wrong way up a slip road

PC Dave Lee, of Northamptonshire Police Safer Roads Team, said in July the drivers had been "behaving ridiculously" and "risking lives"

After a Freedom of Information Act request by the BBC revealed no drivers would be prosecuted, Mr Lee said: "Although the CCTV footage clearly shows the motorists committing offences, it is not clear enough to read the number plates of most of the vehicles involved and so we have been unable to trace the owners and take the action we would like to.

"We released the footage to show how some motorists do put themselves and others in danger by acting selfishly and to remind people that the rules of the road are there for a reason, to keep all road users as safe as possible."

Wigton-based coach company Reays confirmed their driver who performed an illegal U-turn had resigned, but did not want to comment further.

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