Episode 1 A1: Britain's Longest Road

The A1 -

Britain's longest road...

..stretching almost 400 miles,

from the City of London to the heart of the Scottish capital.

Connecting two nations and passing through 18 counties,

it's an unrivalled highway, used by hundreds of thousands

of vehicles every day.

We're going southbound down the A1, on the northbound carriageway.

But not all journeys go to plan.

I thought, "I'm going to lose my life."

-Cars are coming close.

-It is the dangerous place to be.

Lives can hang in the balance.

The rear end of that vehicle, it is unrecognisable.

This is actually the bodywork of the car.

24 hours a day...

It's not a safe place here.

..there is a team of people who keep us safe from harm.

The police...

-..response teams...

-We don't know whether they've got the road closed

or we don't know what's happened.

..and traffic officers...

Mate, keep going.

..keeping Britain's most iconic road...

-Get out!

-..on the move.

Substantially-damaged flatbed truck in lane two.

The A1, the monster that it is, will start to return to normal.

Coming up...

Flying debris smashes into a minibus.

Life can change so quickly.

Something has come off another vehicle and created this carnage.

A high-speed police chase leads to a major drugs bust.

Could be amphetamine, could be cocaine.

We've got the result we wanted.

-And getting into a flap.

-We've currently got a couple of swans

-on the A1.

-Two birds bring the road to a standstill.

The traffic is backed three miles now.

The A1 is a 400-mile superhighway - a key artery from central London,

through the fields of Lincolnshire, past the northern powerhouses

of Leeds and Newcastle,

before crossing the Border and skirting the Scottish coast,

ending at Edinburgh's Waverley Station.

One of the busiest stretches is in the north-east of England,

where more than 90,000 vehicles use the A1 every day.

Almost all are law-abiding motorists,

but some are anything but.

It's rush hour and cutting through the traffic

is PC Alan Keenliside, who's on his way to an emergency.

We've been asked to go into Durham's area, which is actually really,

really rare. So, either Durham shouted for help

or there is a vehicle of high interest to the police

which may be coming our way.

As he nears Durham, more intelligence comes in.

So, we've got a vehicle travelling up into our area

with a high level... A high quantity of drugs in it.

Criminals use the A1 to get around, and our main thing that we do

in the traffic department is we deny criminals the use of the road.

And that's what we're going to be doing tonight.

A suspicious car has been spotted heading north on its way up the A1.

Joined by three other pursuit cars,

they quickly need to catch up with the suspect.

To stop them safely, it's vital they have the element of surprise.

Blue lights show up from miles back.

So, what we need to do is we need to make ground,

as quickly and safely as possible,

but not show the person our blue lights.

So we don't want that vehicle to fail to stop,

we don't want a pursuit to happen.

But cutting through the congestion

without blue lights and sirens makes for frustratingly slow progress.

Light's going on here.

14 miles after their pursuit started on the A1,

Alan and the team have the target vehicle in their sights.

They will use a tactical stop,

boxing the suspect vehicle in completely.

SIRENS WAIL

The car has been stopped safely and the driver arrested...

Come in the front one, use the front one.

..exactly how Alan hoped things would pan out.

We caught the driver by complete shock.

He's driving along minding his own business.

He's got his radio on and, the next minute,

he's surrounded by police cars with blue lights, sirens.

And we do that for a very, very good reason, because it shocks them.

And by shocking the driver, it will essentially stun them.

With the suspect taken away for questioning,

officers now need to search the car for drugs.

But as the sniffer dogs are called in,

will this pursuit operation end in a bust or be totally blown?

Alan's force, Northumbria, is one of 15 tasked with keeping

the roads safe for the travelling public.

70 miles south down the A1,

in the North Yorkshire village of Tollerton,

a champion cattle breeder is preparing for a big journey.

Farmer Paul Harrison travels on the A1 with his South Devon cows

all year round.

That means he knows the A1 like the back of his hand.

But he knows his herd by their backsides.

As daft as it is,

by looking at how big their bums are, I can tell you which is...

Obviously, that's Stella, Juniper and Dina.

And Winston is obviously the male of the ones that has a bit more

of an attachment underneath!

But his wife Pam doesn't have quite such an intimate knowledge.

I go more by the head, by the tag.

I don't know them as well as Paul.

I do spend a lot of time with my animals, out in the field,

talking to them. Second to Pam is the cattle.

Oh, my word. That's a first!

Good girl.

Today, the couple are prepping four of their finest

for the end of season show 130 miles down the A1 in Peterborough.

And Paul and Pam are optimistic it will be a fruitful journey.

This one was won last week at the Skipton Sale.

This one is for the champion at the Great Yorkshire.

Over the past 40 years, Paul and Pam have scooped up

more than 200 trophies and rosettes from all over the country.

It is a bug that, once you've got it, you can't do without it.

It's like a fix, really!

But before any more trophies head back to Yorkshire,

Paul needs to get his stars to the show.

We will see whether Juniper will go in.

Oh, you are going in there, are you?

The trouble is three of them have never travelled before.

Come on. You'll have to walk better than this tomorrow

or else we won't be going.

-Good girl.

-Come on, girl.

Winston, a 1.5 tonne young bull,

will need more than a shove to get into the trailer.

Come on, lad. Good lad.

Good boy.

And after some more sweet talking from Paul...

-Come on, then.

-..all four cows are loaded and they are ready

to hit the road.

Away we go.

As they join the A1, the calves are all calm and relaxed.

For Paul and Pam, they will be hoping this latest road trip will be

a little less eventful than previous journeys.

We were going to Smithfield, weren't we?

And all of a sudden,

you could feel it was being a bit spongy on the right-hand side.

A kind man pulled up and said, "Have you a problem?

And I said, "Yeah, I've got a flat tyre."

He said, "Well, we can't lift the wagon up on a jack with animals in."

So, we actually did fasten them to the crash barrier

and then they stood there while he actually got the wheels off,

mended it and set off again.

Yeah, we did get some strange looks, with four animals fastened

to the crash barrier of the A1...

BOTH LAUGH

..which, nowadays, wouldn't be allowed.

It was one of those that you remember and you think,

"Hopefully, never again."

Barring an impromptu cattle show on the side of the carriageway,

it will take Paul and Pam three and a half hours to ferry

their precious cargo down the A1 to Peterborough.

But will Paul's calves arrive in tip-top condition and bring another

haul of trophies back to Yorkshire?

Should their heifers need help on their journey,

the A1 now has a dedicated team of nearly 120 traffic officers

on hand to provide assistance.

And one of the busiest beats for these helpers in hi-viz

is a 17-mile stretch near Doncaster,

where large volumes of traffic are squeezed into just two lanes.

It's 6am and Paul Day and Rob Larkin

are getting ready to patrol this tricky stretch of the road.

They've worked together for 11 years, but a combination of a dark,

wet, winter morning and rush-hour

means that these two won't be enjoying a cosy chat today.

-Charlie Echo 1-3.

-And within minutes of hitting the road,

they are on their way to a collision at a major intersection,

where the A1 meets the M18.

What we've got reports of is a two-vehicle crash, lane one,

one facing the wrong way.

With so many cars on the road,

a crash at rush-hour can quickly lead to more incidents,

so Paul and Rob need to get there fast.

At the scene, it's people, and not vehicles, that are Paul's priority.

Hi. Anybody injured?

The Skoda has taken the brunt of the impact,

spinning it round in the opposite direction.

We've got some barrier damage.

The vehicle's on the hard shoulder and is still facing the wrong way.

And it's only the crash barrier

which has saved the driver from plunging into the ditch.

Have you got any recovery?

How long? Within an hour?

Luckily, both drivers seem fine, but with rush-hour traffic building,

Paul is not prepared to wait that long.

Because it's not a safe place here, so we'll get it shifted, all right?

To get the Skoda towed away safely,

it needs to be moved off the slip road,

so Paul is going to have to stop the traffic.

Because of the weather and the way everything is facing,

it can create a distraction, that could cause another one,

like a secondary crash.

For every minute the road is closed,

the tailbacks will grow and could quickly stretch for miles.

It takes as long as it takes. We just take our time,

make sure everybody's safe, make sure it's all done right.

It's not a perfect start to a Tuesday morning, this,

but we'll make what we can of it.

It takes Paul and Rob just three minutes to shift the Skoda

and get the traffic flowing again.

But not everyone is impressed.

We've had the odd toot from the passing motorists,

appreciating our efforts(!)

But even if it's only slowed people down by five minutes...

TOOTING

..if we weren't here doing it, it would slow them down

a hell of a lot more, because there is all this stuff there -

rubbernecking going, "Oh, what's that?"

Cos we moved it, they're moving again.

Rob and Paul will deal with another 100 similar incidents

over the course of the year.

But for Skoda driver Monica Jednowski,

it's an ordeal she hopes she will never repeat.

I have never had a crash before, never experienced anything like it.

So...for a few seconds, I thought I'm going to lose my life.

If those barriers were not there, I would probably not be here now.

And, yeah, that's it.

But when traffic officers are involved,

every cloud has a silver lining.

-Tuck that in.

-Like a turkey?!

-If you put your hand inside... That's it.

As the lads get back on the road,

it's a scenario they've seen hundreds of times.

What we had there was a combination of everything

that could have gone wrong, went wrong.

People might have been in the wrong lanes, the weather was terrible.

-Dark.

-Dark. They weren't watching where they were going properly.

-Just people not paying attention, isn't it?

-Yep.

For Paul and Rob, there is still six hours of their shift to go,

and with nearly 2,100 accidents happening up and down the road

every year, that's five every day.

Traffic officers rarely get a quiet shift.

100 miles north,

PC Alan Keenliside's regular night-time patrol of the A1

has taken a dramatic turn.

Alan and his fellow officers have tracked a suspected drug dealer

from the motorway to the suburbs of Sunderland,

where they boxed him in and arrested him.

A sniffer dog is now on the scene, to discover if their intelligence

is correct and the car does contain drugs.

She is trained for drugs, cash and the weapons.

If there's anything of any interest,

she will obviously hone in on it.

So, I'll just give her a free search to start off with,

see if there's any areas of interest.

Straightaway, spaniel Kim has singled out the central console.

If there's interest and she can't get close enough,

she's, kind of, like, digging, to get to it.

-It's more confirmation.

-It's a promising start,

but dog handler Matt Welsh wants Kim to search the rest of the vehicle

before getting involved.

Her sense of smell is that good that she can pick up on residual scent.

There is potential in something that could have been there hours,

days ago.

And Kim is showing a keen interest

in the space underneath the boot, too.

It's time for Alan to dig deeper.

People actually hide things in the tyres.

Real professional set-ups.

They take the tyre off the rim, fill it full of drugs.

We'll have a quick look.

Looks like sniffer dog Kim has definitely got a lead.

That's not normal activity.

If there was nothing there, she would have been away from that,

she'd have been flying around in the bush, but she's gone straight there.

As Alan checks out the tyre,

other officers are investigating Kim's initial area of interest.

She was going for the console under the seats

-and there is a big stash there, so...

-Is there?

Yeah, check out the front seat.

That's what we're looking at.

So, that is probably what? Ten inches, nine-ten inches,

by about six inches there and reasonably thick.

A solid block of what appears to be some form of white substance.

It was right in here inside the console itself.

It's down and it's in under here.

It could be amphetamine, it could be cocaine.

The dog has done its job and we got the result we wanted.

It's one of the biggest hauls Alan has ever come across

and it will now be sent to the laboratory for tests.

I can smell engine, I can smell brakes, I can smell gear,

I can smell oil.

It is a smell of a three-litre A4

having worked very, very well indeed.

For Alan, it's back to the A1, doing the job he loves.

Everyone who works on traffic, you like driving,

you are a bit of a petrol head and sometimes, you know,

you have got to pinch yourself and you have to think,

"Do I really get to come to work and drive real top-end cars?"

And you are driving them at the highest possible level

and catching bad guys.

You just think, "It's the best job in the world."

And his hard work tonight has really paid off.

Tests later revealed the package contains a kilo of uncut cocaine

with a street value of around £50,000.

More than 120 miles south,

champion cattle breeder Paul Harrison and his wife Pam are halfway through

their journey transporting four of their prize-winning herd to a show in Peterborough.

Large parts of the modern A1 follow the lines of the Roman road used

to move troops and livestock up and down the country.

2,000 years later, a new generation of road users have come to rely on it.

Yeah, the backbone of our travelling is the A1.

Because it's the main road out of Yorkshire, really.

Paul and Pam are veterans of the road,

but it's the first time that many of the young calves have left the farm,

never mind Yorkshire.

But so far they're taking it all in their stride.

The thing that makes the difference, I think,

is having this trailer with a flap at the front, you know,

they can put their head up, they are getting a bit of fresh air.

It's an adventure for the animal and the animal has to be happy.

It's a bit like entertaining children, really.

Not that I was the one that entertained our son because I was always working.

With the cows!

After three and a half hours on the road, they've all arrived safely at the showground in Peterborough.

But even though they've travelled well,

being cooped up in a tin box means the cows are desperate to roam free.

Stand.

You are coming out backwards.

That's it. Back out, then.

-COW MOOS

-Don't get a strop on.

Wait.

Just be a bit careful.

Don't get a strop on.

Steady.

Steady.

Wrestling this much boisterous beef certainly isn't easy.

Steady.

Stand.

But, finally, Paul and Pam get their unruly herd bedded down.

If you just look in the side here, how she is puffing...

..that is the stress factor due to travelling.

So they want to settle down and they will be fine tomorrow, hopefully.

Hopefully.

The feisty foursome will be competing

with more than 200 prize specimens in tomorrow's show.

And Pam thinks their competition numbers could be a good omen.

Well, there is a five,

and five is actually one of my lucky numbers, is five.

So all being well, we might be lucky.

On the eve of battle, the rivalry is already hotting up.

I won last year, you won the year before and I won the year before that.

-I think we won the year before that.

-I think.

-Very even.

Last four years, we are on an even keel.

-This is the year.

-We're not on an even keel because I haven't won yet.

THEY CHUCKLE

With such fierce competition,

Paul hopes a good night's rest will see his cows in prime condition for tomorrow's show.

110 miles north lies the busiest stretch of the A1,

where it meets the M1, near Leeds.

Traffic officers Rob Larkin and Paul Day patrol this patch,

which sees more than 90,000 vehicles a day.

Parking up and keeping a close eye on the road is a vital part of their job.

From here, we can see the A1 over to our right so we can keep an eye

on the flow and it gives us access both north and south from here.

It's a really good place for parking up

and just keeping an eye on things ticking over.

Paul and Rob have worked together for over a decade,

a double act forged during long hours spent patrolling one of Britain's busiest roads.

I'd work with him every day because I know how he works and I know he will be looking out for me.

We want to be together.

By working together a lot, you create this bond where you are...

in each other's hands, sort of thing.

I could trust him with my life and he could trust me with his life

and that's how we work.

When it comes to Britain's most dangerous workplaces,

motorways are right up there.

In the last five years, two fellow traffic officers have tragically lost their lives on duty.

So Rob is all too aware of the risks of this deadly road.

I think every day when I'm going out that gate,

"I wonder if I'll come back today,"

because you are working in a very, very dangerous environment.

One day, you might not come back.

I have that thought.

It is prevalent in your head, isn't it? Whereas it's not in mine.

I have that thought every day.

I think to myself, "I wonder if I'll get back today."

I never, ever think that at all.

It shocks me as much as you don't think it.

Never. Never entered my head.

Well, it has entered my head now because you said it.

But the chance to reflect and relax is soon over.

A report has come in about some dangerous debris lying in the middle of the motorway.

This has been reported as a piece of metal that has fallen off of a LGV

so it could be flicked up by a car

and it could cause some serious trouble.

The debris has been reported east of Leeds.

And as they approach the scene,

it appears to have already wreaked havoc.

On the right-hand side there, it looks like the police have vehicles.

As you can see, it has smashed the window.

In fact, it's created a right mess.

Something may have flicked it up and then it has gone into that minibus.

It's all too apparent how serious this incident is.

They've been so lucky,

the people in this vehicle,

that it's actually hit the passenger side of the vehicle

where nobody is likely to be sat.

The minibus was carrying a group of 12 children to school

when it was struck

and they've had a fortunate escape.

The main thing it makes me think of is how life can change so quickly.

These have been travelling along, not a care in the world,

and through no fault of their own,

something has come off another vehicle and created this carnage.

Incredibly, no-one on the minibus has been injured,

but Paul and Rob fear the mystery object could cause another accident,

so they have to find it...and fast.

Watching over the A1 round the clock

is a vast network of more than 300 CCTV cameras.

At one of the four regional control centres in Newcastle,

incident manager Ian Lee is keeping a close eye on the road.

Ian has learned that even though the road is pretty straight,

daily life on it has many twists and turns.

We have currently got a couple of swans

that have decided to have a waddle on the A1.

The reason being is a wet asphalt surface looks like a river.

So they landed on it. Obviously,

something the size of a swan could do some damage to a vehicle

or could cause a secondary incident.

CCTV operator Craig Cushing is liaising with the team at the scene.

It's the first time I've witnessed swans on a carriageway.

Highway Patrol has put a block on southbound traffic.

A very busy junction at this time of day.

But for traffic officers,

avian evacuations are clearly beyond their job brief.

Rather than try and capture the swans,

they are trying to initiate a take-off by flapping their wings,

with no joy.

We can admire the endeavour.

Now, I think if that traffic officer takes a run and flaps his wing,

he may take off himself!

LAUGHTER

I'm trying to be as professional as I possibly can here.

But they have failed in taking off.

You couldn't write this.

However, it's no joke that the A1 has ground to a halt.

I mean, we've had that closed there for...about five minutes now,

and the traffic is back to probably about three miles now.

Thankfully, though, the traffic officers have managed to shoo the swans

off the motorway and they are able to reopen the road.

I hope they've got insurance details because we will be putting a claim in against them.

But with the birds still at the side of the carriageway,

the traffic officers won't be taking off to another job just yet.

More than 200 animals, all of them posing a danger to motorists,

had to be removed from the road last year.

But thankfully, farmer Paul Harrison

has managed to keep his prize-winning cows

under control on their trip south to Peterborough.

Now it's showtime.

More than 200 competitors are preparing to battle it out

at the Smithfield Festival, one of the most prestigious shows of the season,

and champion breeders Paul and Pam Harrison are here to check up on how their four young calves

have fared overnight after yesterday's long journey from North Yorkshire.

All right, nippies? All right?

It's your dad.

You are chewing, aren't you, lass?

Yeah, they look well. Settled.

Yeah, pleased with them.

As Paul gets them all up,

sleepy Stella seems to be in a bit of a situation.

That's what I told you, just wait, wait. Wait.

Wait. Wait.

Good lass. That's it.

You're all right.

Clearly Stella is not at her best first thing.

But a makeover should help...

Good girl.

..at Farmer Paul's Bovine Beauty Salon.

Look at that.

You are like a lovely fluffy ball, aren't you, Juniper?

You have the best coat of them all.

Everybody comes and says, "That Yorkshire man isn't going to win."

I never lay down lightly, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

And Paul has not got long to wait.

The competition is about to get underway.

And the first class of South Devon into ring three, please.

First up for Paul is his unruly young bull, Winston.

Weighing in at over 1.5 tonnes,

Winston is much bigger than his rivals.

Good lad.

Good lad.

Steady.

But if he doesn't stand still for judge Douglas Scott,

this big boy could blow his chances.

Steady.

Good lad.

But in the cow-showing world...

Thank you very much.

..does size really matter?

-Thank you very much, Douglas.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

Winston's first prize is just the start of Paul and Pam's winning streak.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Douglas. Thank you.

I thought the South West would get that one,

but the judge's decision is final.

And then it's prize heifer Stella.

And she doesn't disappoint.

Thank you very much.

And there is even a third place for the older heifer, Dinah.

Big smiles, everybody.

Steven, don't let the side down.

You couldn't have done any better than what we've done.

There is that many, I'm dropping them.

Hopefully, Pam will find a place for these on the sideboard.

They'll fit. They'll fit. I'll make them fit.

Even with all of today's victories,

Paul and Pam are hoping to add one final prize to their mantelpiece.

Their star of the show, Stella,

is going up against all of the other award winners

in a bid to be crowned champion of champions.

This is a nervy part

because obviously this is the highlight of the show.

And with some serious silverware on offer, judge Ian Green really has

his work cut out.

Ian Green casts his eye around a quality field.

Who is going to win this pedigree calf interbreed championship this afternoon?

It is the Charolais!

Sadly for Paul and Stella, they've been beaten by a real heavyweight.

But they are far from down.

I don't think I've ever come to Smithfield and done as well, ever.

You know, bringing four animals and just dropping one prize.

Well, that is tremendous.

And Paul's prize cows seem so happy with their medal haul,

they don't actually want to leave.

Get up. Come on.

Come on.

Come on. Get up.

Get up.

All that's left for Paul and his cows...

Good lass.

..is the three-and-a-half-hour journey

back up the A1 to their Yorkshire home.

A staggering 2,500 pieces of debris have had to be retrieved

from the carriageway every year,

each one of them with the potential to cause carnage.

Back in West Yorkshire, traffic officers Paul and Rob

are still on the trail of a mystery object

which has slammed into the windscreen of a school minibus.

Central res. Whereabouts?

Helping in the search is PC Dan Baldwin

who was first on the scene.

Rob is up on the banking and he can see into the, er...into the gully

and he is looking to see if he can see some debris.

He thinks there is something in there.

So far, PC Baldwin's risky recce of the central reservation

seems to have drawn a blank.

It appears it's obviously not what we are looking for,

it must be bigger.

But then Paul spots something in the distance.

It's just up past there.

Behind, up there.

I've seen it.

It's behind the barrier near the phone.

This enormous piece of metal and plastic

appears to be the roof off a van.

-Well, that's it.

-I wasn't kidding when I said it was a big piece.

Full roof, yeah.

There is a risk a gust of wind could catch this sail-like object again,

blowing it back into the carriageway and causing carnage.

So Paul secures it in a sheltered spot.

With the size of this debris,

can we get our contractors to gantry 9568 Bravo

to pick this debris up?

It is probably ten foot by eight foot

with fibreglass Perspex in the middle.

It is probably as big as a transit roof.

The whole lot. You see there?

-Yeah, I see how big it is.

-It's 8 foot by 10. It's massive.

Probably the biggest piece of debris I've ever seen on the motorway.

Normally it is tyres or lumps of wood, things like that.

But, I mean, I think that's to take the record, the roof off the truck.

With the response team on its way to collect the roof and the minibus

soon to be recovered, Paul and Rob can hit the road again.

So, so lucky.

Incredibly, footage soon emerges from a following motorist

which shows exactly what happened.

The wind appears to have got under the van roof and sent it hurtling

across the carriageway into the path of the minibus.

Back at base, Paul and Rob are keen to see for themselves

how the incident unfolded.

There's the van.

Oh. Look at that.

The van has not even noticed, has it?

Oh, that could have just been so much worse than that.

I mean,

it wasn't flapping,

it wasn't giving any indication it was going to come off,

it's just peeled off all at once.

It appears the calm actions of the driver have prevented things ending in disaster.

That minibus driver wants a medal.

He never even flinched.

He didn't panic, did he? I'll give him that.

He didn't even move out of lane.

He indicated.

Having the kids screaming, like the probably would have been,

and then still having the calm rational thinking

to think, "Hang on, I need to get it over." It's amazing.

He could have swerved violently

and then the minibus may have rolled over

and gone into the central reservation.

It could have been carnage. It could have so easily been carnage.

It could have been a very, very different story, that. Yeah.

Somebody was looking over them all.

And watching over a different stretch of the road at Gateshead

is the Angel of the North.

But as well as her, in the nearby Newcastle control centre,

there are around 70 CCTV cameras monitoring the road.

And Ian Lee has spotted that some old friends are back.

Can you just head A1 southbound between Lobley Hill and Coal House?

Just if you're in that area,

we've got a couple of swans on the network.

Incident manager Craig Heyward is on his way to head them off.

But Craig is in two minds

about whether he is actually the best man for the job.

I wouldn't like to touch one.

I know they've got quite a nasty bite on them.

Thankfully for Craig, the swans have made it off the carriageway

and vehicles are still moving.

But traffic officer Richard Pihotsky is still in a bit of a flap

about how close the birds are to the road.

Where are they going?

Where are they going off to?

-Where are they going? Yeah...

-I'll have a word with them.

This is quite unusual.

We get quite a lot of dogs, horses, sheep on the network.

Swans are fairly rare,

especially in the middle of an urban area like this.

And they are so unpredictable,

which is why we just can't grab hold of them

and throw them in the back of the car,

it's just far too dangerous.

And far too risky, in case they do fly out on the motorway.

With rush hour traffic now building, Richard has hatched a plan.

Do you think you could just run parallel to stop them going?

-Yeah, yeah.

-If there's a problem, we can stop the slip straightaway.

Yeah, keep them confined to the verge.

So as not to spook them, Richard and Craig use a pincer movement

to guide the birds down the bank and away from the A1.

So far, so good,

but Craig's worry is that these young birds are repeat offenders.

It's going to just keep happening again and again.

If the swans get back on the road,

we'll have to keep shutting the lanes.

The RSPCA has been called,

but with no sign of the officers arriving soon,

the team gets creative.

They hope a spare bit of emergency fencing will ensure the dynamic duo

don't turn tail again.

All right, Sean? You're good at this.

-You normally chase the birds and they run away from you.

-That's me, mate.

I think the swans are just... down here.

I think they're probably quite tired,

that's why they won't take off.

They look as though they are settling down for the night now.

Or maybe not, Craig.

Just when his back is turned,

one of the swans makes another bid for freedom.

So, Craig has to conquer his fear

and corral the swan back into its temporary pen.

It was double-necked there.

Its neck came in, came out and went back in.

Dealing with the swans has had the traffic officers in a flap

for over three hours.

Eventually, the experts arrive to take over.

RSPCA are now on scene. Over.

Inspector Cathy Richardson makes short work

of bagging up the first swan.

And she has her own theory

on how the pair have ended up by the motorway.

They are still young, but they are big enough that they are probably OK

to go off on their own now.

So that may well be the trouble,

because they are so young, they have taken off and left where they have came from,

but not known where to go.

But the second bird is not as cooperative.

All right, it's all right.

Hear it hissing.

So the swans are safe,

and catching them has helped Craig work up an appetite.

We are going to head off and get some tea.

It's a happy ending. Two uninjured swans, for once.

They've been lucky.

Later, the swans were released at a local park, where, hopefully,

they will stick to rivers rather than roads.

Alan's drug seizure eventually led to police finding a further 26 kilos

of illegal drugs with a street value of more than a third of a million pounds

and also led to the closure of a cannabis farm.

And Paul finally shifted his champion cows...

Good lad.

..and got them back up the A1 to their Yorkshire home.

Next time, a pile-up on the carriageway...

Lanes one and two are blocked, so effectively the A1 North is shut.

..puts lives at risk.

Substantially damaged flatbed truck in lane two.

Highway overload...

This is very dangerous.

That could have burst at any time.

..as officers clamp down on illegal vehicles.

As it stands, we cannot permit this vehicle to proceed on its journey.

And fires on the Tyne push police officers to the limit.

There is a lot of explosives within a car.

Really, really dangerous.