A CONFUSED pensioner ended up driving 300 miles on what was supposed to be a ten-minute trip after she missed a turn-off.
Valerie Johnson accidentally travelled for eight hours instead of ten minutes after she got mixed-up in a diversion caused by roadworks in Worcester.
The 83-year-old, who was on her way for an appointment at the city’s royal hospital – a six-mile journey, kept on heading north on the M5 and the M6. Her journey ended in Larkhall, Scotland, after she ran out of fuel and was taken in by a kind-hearted couple, Daily Record reported.
Police launched a search for the pensioner when her worried family reported her missing on May 5.
Her 49-year-old daughter Karen Maskell said: “Mum’s next-door neighbour called me to say she hadn’t come back and he was worried. I thought she must have had an accident.
“We called the police and by the time I got to her house, they said they had spotted her car on a traffic camera at Preston at 11pm.
“I said it couldn’t be my mum because she hates driving, she doesn’t usually drive more than three miles.
“But it was her and she was still heading north and we had to get the Scottish police involved.”
Karen said she then got on the first flight to Scotland in order to pick her mum up.
Scotland police said Valerie’s rescuers spotted her car had come to a standstill in the road outside their house.
Sergeant John McLeish at Larkhall police office said: “A local couple assisted Valerie and she informed them that she was lost.
“The couple called the police at Larkhall who contacted West Mercia Police to inform her family.
“Local officers called an ambulance to ensure she did not require any medical attention.
“The local couple very kindly looked after the woman, ensuring that she was comfortable until her relatives arrived from England to collect her.”
