A man spotted walking along a motorway told police he was heading for London.

The 42-year-old was spotted strolling along the hard shoulder of the northbound carriageway M23, at Pease Pottage, close to Crawley, around 9am today.

Horrified motorists called 999 and Sussex Police raced to the scene.

The man told officers he hoped to reach London.

It is not clear how far he had travelled when he was picked up He could have accessed London by either continuing along the M23 and going through Croydon, eventually reaching Brixton, or by turning onto the M25.

Sussex Police roads police unit initially reported the incident on Twitter.

An officer said: “Report of a pedestrian walking along the hard shoulder of the M23. Located near Crawley.

“Attempting to get to London, it turns out!”

A force spokesman said: “At 9am on Thursday, police attended the M23 southbound near Pease Pottage services where a man had been seen walking north along the hard-shoulder.

“A patrol quickly located the man, who proved to be a 42-year-old Lithuanian with little or no English. He had not left a broken down vehicle, but gave officers to understand that he was walking to London.

He was advised that motorway regulations prohibit pedestrians on the carriageways or hard shoulder, except in an emergency, and the patrol took him to a safe location nearby from where he could continue his journey.”

Today is expected to be the busiest day on Britain's roads so far this year with millions of people setting off for their Easter break, a traffic information company has warned.

Trafficmaster predicted bank holiday getaway journeys mixed with commuter traffic today will lead to the heaviest congestion of the weekend.

Over the Easter weekend 200,000 people are predicted to fly out the UK from from Gatwick Airport.