A 16-year-old boy has been arrested and taken to court after driving three friends for 50 miles along the M6 in an untaxed car he bought for just £250 earlier that day.

Cheshire Police officers pursued the red Kia across Cheshire and Staffordshire after the vehicle failed to stop on the motorway. Police intelligence had already flagged that the car was being driven without insurance, without tax, and without a valid MOT. Officers eventually brought the pursuit to an end by intercepting the vehicle at Stafford services near Stone.

Footage captured for Channel 5's programme 'Motorway Cops' and shared with the Daily Mail shows Cheshire Police officers PC Mark Gribble and PC Lucy Pond boxing in the vehicle at the service station. PC Gribble told his colleague, 'You ready? Go and grab them keys,' before PC Pond moved in, ordered the driver out of the vehicle, and placed him in handcuffs.

When the teenager asked 'why' he was being detained, PC Pond told him: 'Because you made off from officers earlier on.' As she cautioned him and prepared to place him in the back of her police car, PC Gribble radioed the control room to confirm: 'Yeah, keys out the vehicle, driver detained, vehicle stopped.'

The full reality of the situation emerged when PC Gribble spoke to one of the passengers inside the Kia to ask who owned it. The passenger explained it belonged to his friend and revealed the driver was only 16 years old. A stunned PC Gribble called out to his colleague, '16? Lucy, these are saying he's 16!'

PC Pond then asked the young driver directly: '16? What are you driving for?' The boy admitted, 'I know, I'm sorry I done that,' to which the officer replied, 'Yeah, well that's incredibly stupid.' When questioned further, the teenager admitted his parents were at home and had no idea he was out on the road. PC Gribble subsequently alerted control that all four occupants inside the vehicle were juveniles.

Following the roadside stop, the 16-year-old motorist was charged with driving without a licence and driving without insurance before being taken to court.

The incident comes at a time of growing public scrutiny over dangerous driving, with the Government urging social media platforms to take down videos of reckless driving stunts. The wider debate has been sharpened by recent fatal road incidents, including a Teesside collision that killed PC Matthew Blades, PC Tom Clough, Cole Robert Worthy, Theo Rae, Makai Saddington, Michael Robert Cahill, and Jacob Matusiak, as well as a crash on the M9 in County Kildare that claimed the lives of five teenagers.

As this case progresses through the court system, it puts a sharp focus on whether existing penalties are sufficient to deter underage and uninsured driving on Britain's motorways. I'll be following this one.