Lost?

Lost pensioner Dennis Leighton spends 30 hours driving around M25

A pensioner spent more than 30 hours driving around the M25 motorway after getting lost en route to visit his daughter.

Dennis Leighton, 82, was eventually found by police still at the wheel of his silver estate after worried family members reported him missing.
The retired carpenter had set off from his home in Windsor, Berks., to see his daughter Hazel, 55-miles away in Swanley, Kent.
But after getting “a little lost”, what should have been a straightforward, hour-long drive instead became a two-day journey. Officers eventually found him still in his Vauxhall Astra in south London.
A police source said yesterday: “He had been driving around the south of the country, predominately on the M25 motorway but had also gone onto some A roads in the area.
“He had stopped to catch up on some much needed sleep - we think in a motorway service area, before setting off again.
“He is after all 82-years-old. Presumably he put fuel in the car during the service stops over the two days.”
Mr Leighton, who lives alone, set off from his semi-detached home on December 12 at 7.30pm.
After family members reported him missing, his car was spotted on a police automatic number plate recognition camera in Dartford, Kent, on Tuesday at 11.20am - six miles from his intended destination.
Yet despite an extensive search, the pensioner could not be located - sparking a multi-force missing person appeal.
However, in the early hours of yesterday (Wed), more than 30 hours after leaving home, he was found by Met Police officers safe and well in his car in South London.
Sergeant Sarah Godsmark, of Kent Police, said during the missing person appeal: “We are concerned for Mr Leighton's welfare as he is elderly and is about to spend his second night away from his home.
“He has made this journey several times before and knows the route well. I would urge anyone who has seen Mr Leighton or has noticed a silver Astra estate acting suspiciously to contact police urgently. It is likely he is parked up in a service area or lay-by.”
A spokesman for Thames Valley Police added yesterday: “He got a little bit lost but was found safe and well in the early hours of this morning.”
Mr Leighton’s adventure echoes that of Mohammed Bellazrak’s three-day ordeal last Christmas.
The grandfather hit the headlines when he became disoriented in heavy snow after driving his wife to catch a holiday flight.
The 72-year-old spent three days and nights driving up and down the M4 motorway trying to find his way home to Wiltshire from Gatwick Airport.
He had set off from his home in Trowbridge on December 23 to drive his wife to Heathrow airport where she was due to catch a flight to Morocco.
However, bad weather meant the flight was diverted to Gatwick and he was eventually found on Christmas Day, still at the wheel of his Peugeot 307, when he triggered a police camera and was flagged down by officers in Oxfordshire.