A sheepdog at the wheel of a runaway tractor has caused rush hour disruption in Scotland when it crashed onto a motorway.
The bizarre event was reported by Traffic Scotland at junction 13 of the M74 near Abington in South Lanarkshire, who tweeted “#M74 (N) J13-RTC due to dog taking control of tractor… nope, not joking. Farmerandpolice at scene,vehicle in central res.”
The dog’s master Tom Hamilton, of Kirkton Farm in Abington, explained that he was checking the sheep up on the hill and got out of the utility vehicle Gator to see a lamb. He left the Gator sitting and Don the dog was sitting on the seat.
He added that he’d almost got back to it when it started to move, after which he ran after it and fell. The next thing, it was going down the bank, across the motorway and it hit the crash barrier in the middle.
Hamilton, who first felt shock upon seeing the events unfold before his eyes, with Don still sitting in the truck, said that later he was glad he didn’t hear a crash or anything, because he couldn’t see the motorway.
He continued that a road maintenance man came along at the same time and stopped the traffic, so that helped, and then he went down and got it back up the bank again, adding that he was so relieved to see there wasn’t a smash-up.
It was reported that the dog, who has a slightly sore front foot, had leaned on the controls of the tractor, taking it from a field on to the road.
