An 11-year-old boy was arrested after being stopped by police at the wheel of a BMW towing a suspected stolen caravan on the M1.

North Yorkshire officers said they were “staggered” after finding the boy driving a BMW X5 on the motorway.

The caravan was reported stolen from a caravan site near Thirsk at 3.30pm on Thursday, the caller saying it was being towed away by a black BMW.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “We were able to track the BMW, that was also using cloned registration plates, travelling south on the A1.

“Forty five minutes after the caravan was reported stolen, we stopped the vehicle on the M1 after it left the A1 at Hook Moor interchange near Garforth.

“But nothing prepared us for finding the schoolboy sat at the wheel.”

The boy was arrested on suspicion of theft, burglary, going equipped for theft, and motoring offences including dangerous driving.

He was questioned and released on conditional bail.

No-one was injured, police said.