Police watched in astonishment as a lane hogger they were trying to pull over came to a halt in the fast lane of the motorway.

Officers patrolling the M25 decided to stop the Smart car after they followed it travelling at 60mph in the third of four lanes on the empty stretch of road in the very early hours of this morning.

As the police signalled for the vehicle to stop near London Colney, they were stunned when the driver pulled onto the fast lane and stopped instead of moving over to the hard shoulder.

The BCH Road Policing Unit confirmed a ticket and “passionate words of advice” had been issued as well as warning people to always pull over to the hard shoulder when being stopped by police.

Hertfordshire Constabulary has been approached for confirmation about what the ticket was issued for.

After the police posted the footage on social media, there wasn’t much sympathy for the driver.

One Twitter user, @DanielEuropean said: “I’d seriously doubt whether this person should be driving at all if they think this is appropriate” while @Rick5782 said “that’s unbelievable. They should have their licence revoked immediately and be made to resit their test” while another user questioned whether they should be on the road.