Dashcam footage captures the moment police bring traffic on the A1(M) near Darlington to a standstill before deploying a stinger in a scene straight out of Police Interceptors.
Marked police cars stopped drivers southbound near Junction 59 at around 1.50pm on Monday (October 5).
A BMW sped up the hard shoulder being pursued by another marked car, as worried motorists watched on.
Durham Police have now confirmed it was a training exercise.
One motorist caught up in the exercise said he initially had no idea why police had brought traffic to a halt.
Police stopping traffic on the A1(M). (Image: SWD MEDIA)
He said: "I was worried about what was going on.
"Two of them kept following me, then they drove fast, pulled onto the hard shoulder and stopped me.
"One of them came over and told me, 'Don't worry, just wait here for a few minutes.'"
Officers wearing high-visibility jackets managed stationary traffic while a spike strip lay deployed across the tarmac.
Despite having its tyres punctured by the stinger, the black BMW drove off into the distance as officers cleared the scene.
The moment caught on a dash cam (Image: SWD MEDIA)
Video shows an officer gathering and folding up the heavy-duty spike strip before stowing the kit into the boot of a marked patrol car.
In a lighter moment captured on camera, the boot then popped back open as officers prepared to leave, forcing them to stop briefly before setting off.
Durham Police said there was no live pursuit taking place and the operation was instead part of a police training exercise.
Traffic was allowed to continue once the officers had collected their equipment and cleared the carriageway.
Police stopping traffic on the A1(M). (Image: SWD MEDIA)
Footage of the unusual scenes prompted plenty of reaction online, with viewers initially speculating about what had unfolded.
One person joked: "The boot opening again had me laughing."
While some expressed concern over officer safety, others were quick to defend the tactical positioning saying: "Nope, it's not their first rodeo, they do that for a living, the lanes behind the camera is full of stationary traffic shielding the view of the police vehicles from the BMW.
Police stopping traffic on the A1(M). (Image: SWD MEDIA)
"Did you see the cop ask the drivers to pull close to them, the black car would have passed a long queue, there was no option to go to the right."
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Another praised the clever funneling strategy: "Easier, and safer, to leave the hard shoulder as the escape route for the criminal. That worked perfectly.
"Normal traffic know to keep the hard shoulder clear, the criminal used it as their only escape route, right onto the spike strips. Perfect."
Meanwhile, commentators questioned how the car managed to keep going after hitting the spikes, with one asking: "Do BMWs not have run flats, would a stinger work?"