Man arrested on suspicion of drug driving claimed he swerved to avoid an octopus
The 49-year-old from Devon was found in his car upside down in a ditch.
A 49-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of drug driving in Devon after overturning his car “to avoid an octopus”.
Police were called at around 5.15pm on Tuesday to reports of an accident on the A381 between Malborough and South Milton where they found the vehicle upside-down in a ditch.
The official account for the Kingsbridge area of Devon and Cornwall Police tweeted: “Emergency services are currently dealing with a single vehicle RTC on the A381 by the South Milton turn where a car has overturned.
“The driver stated he swerved to avoid an octopus. He is currently in custody on suspicion of drug driving.”
A spokeswoman for the force said: “He did a bit of a slow roll into a ditch. An ambulance went out and the driver was checked over by paramedics but there weren’t injuries enough to go to hospital.”
The man, from Salcombe, was arrested on suspicion of driving while unfit through drugs or drink and remains in custody.
Twitter users were quick to respond with puns.
“It’s good to see the police kraken down on drug driving,” joked one.
“A case for the Cephala Plod,” quipped another.
A third asked if the suspect would be “facing the long arms of the law?”
Octopuses are not unheard of in the seas off the south coast, but this particular cephalopod would have had to crawl more than five kilometres over hills and fields to find itself in the path of car on the A381.
Police said they found no evidence of an octopus on the road.
