This is the moment a family desperate to catch their holiday flight from Stansted ditch their taxi and WALK along the M11 to the airport.
The couple can be seen marching their two young daughters along the M11 after the taxi was brought to a standstill by a four vehicle, horror smash.
They are filmed walking alongside the central reservation pulling their suitcases behind them as they headed towards the airport.
They were among thousands of holiday-makers whose travel plans were jeopardised by the motorway chaos yesterday (July 4).
The footage taken by radio DJ Gary Stuart starts with the clearly agitated father asking him: “How far to the airport?”
Mr Stuart tells him: “I don’t know you are probably looking at an hour’s walk.
“It’s the next one (exit), it’s signposted.”
The father then abruptly calls his family in a foreign language and his two daughters and wife are seen setting off down the carriageway with their suitcases behind them.
The family appeared to have left their taxi in the traffic not knowing how long the delays would last.
Mr Stuart, 42, of Colchester, Essex, caught the moment on camera as he was filming huge queues of stationary traffic between junctions 7 and 8 in Hertfordshire.
He said the family was among several holidaymakers he saw walking to the airport while the motorway was closed for more than two hours.
“He was desperate over how long it was going to take him and the thought of missing his flight with his family, he said.
“Obviously they were quite anxious to get there - he didn’t want to hang around for a conversation.
“I was thinking how many more people were doing that and when we got moving again there was another two people that tried to walk with their luggage and also people walking their dogs on the M11.
“People were looking desperate. The fact that people were walking with kids in tail shows just how desperate people were to make their flight.
“People were concerned because they weren’t sure how long they were going to be there for.
“There was quite a few taxi drivers who were probably going to Stansted. It might have been thousands of people affected, it’s hard to say.”
He added: “I could see the guy was getting his luggage our of the car so I thought this was too good an opportunity to let go.
“I didn’t see the family so they must have done well to get to Stansted.
“Each to their own if they wanted to walk to the airport, if it was me on my own I probably do it but if I had kids with me I would wait and worry about it when I got to the airport - it’s a massive risk.”
A woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries after her car collided with a heavy good vehicle on the northbound carriageway shortly before 11am.
The M11 was closed for more than two hours after an air ambulance was called to the scene.
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ST HELENS
St. Helens Council has successfully defended an appeal against its decision to immediate revoke a taxi driver licence.
The driver concerned had followed a member of the public in his taxi for 2 miles on a dark morning in December, before aggressively confronting her about what he considered to be poor driving at an earlier junction, causing considerable distress to both the driver and her young daughter.
The case was heard by Liverpool Magistrates Court in June. In the summing up the Judge completely agreed with and upheld the Council's decision to revoke the licence on the grounds of 'any reasonable cause'
The Council had submitted substantial evidence including CCTV coverage of the incident in support of their decision and the Judge was very critical of the driver in his Judgment. The Judge was particularly concerned that the driver remained convinced that he had done nothing wrong and that it was appropriate to 'educate' people about their driving mistakes.
The Judge also awarded the Council a contribution towards costs in the sum of £800.
A spokesperson from St. Helens Council said
'The Council will not hesitate to use any powers at its disposal when dealing with incidents such as this. In this case it was clear that a potentially serious incident had occurred for which prompt and decisive action was required.
‘It is vitally important that the public feel safe with our licensed drivers and we will continue to provide that security utilising the most appropriate legal options available to us'.
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