A BMW driver has been arrested after getting his motor stuck on a footpath whilst trying to bypass a set of roadworks.
The dopey motorist was cuffed on Saturday when he tried to squeeze down a pavement by the railway station on Botley Road in Oxford.
The road has been closed to drivers since March 2023 for renovation works, but it seems the 24-year-old driver missed the memo, opting instead to cruise through a narrow tunnel beneath the bridge and along the path.
The driver’s joyride met its end at the hands of a lamppost though, that thinned the path even more, resulting in the BMW becoming stuck between a wall and a fence.
Police were subsequently called at around 3:30am after reports of a man attempting to drive along the pedestrian walkway were received.
They found the motorist and his beached beamer and placed him under arrest on suspicion of dangerous driving and driving above the legal alcohol limit.
A picture of the stranded car shows the white vehicle lodged firmly between a wall and the temporary barrier erected to separate the pedestrian pathway from the ongoing works.
With only inches to spare on either side of the vehicle, it’s a wonder the motorist was even able to open the doors and get out.
The image shows two men attempting to make their way around the stuck car with one squeezing past the driver’s side door.
A post was shared to social media yesterday with the caption: “Wow. The level of entitlement of some drivers. This is Oxford last night.
“Pedestrian tunnel under the railway lines by the station. Botley Road [has been] closed to vehicles since March 2023.
“Yeah, it’s a pain, so why not drive on the path and block it?”
The post has received dozens of likes and comments from enraged locals hitting out at the dopey driver.
One user said: “It’s probably alcohol, drugs related and possibly stolen too.”
Another sarcastically added: “Watch you don’t scratch it as you climb over.”
A third replied: “That must be a very small car if he drove it through the pedestrian tunnel, even on a good day one person with a motorbike and a person walking the other way struggle.
“Did he reverse it from Mill Street?”
Another wrote: “Either drunk or blindly following a satnav?”
A fifth commented: “Driver over the prescribed limit. You don’t say.”
Speaking yesterday, a Thames Valley Police spokesperson said: “Officers were called to Botley Road, Oxford at approximately 3:28am this morning to reports of a man who had driven down a footpath in his vehicle.
“Officers are investigating the incident and the car is being recovered.
“A 24-year-old man from Charlbury was arrested on suspicion of driving a motor vehicle dangerously and driving a motor vehicle with alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit.
“He remains in custody at this time.
“Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 101 or make a report online quoting investigation reference number 43240321024.”
