The trouble started with an overturned lorry. A transporter carrying cars had tipped over near junction two, spilling across both carriageways and needing a crane to clear, and the traffic behind it stopped dead. Sitting in that queue was Kaiya Brown, 33, from Leicestershire, with her husband and their two children, watching the minutes to their flight tick away.
They had done everything right, leaving home a full five hours ahead for a drive that should have taken half an hour. When it became clear the traffic was not going anywhere, they made a decision most people only think about: they got out and walked. A closed slip road beside them gave a safe route up the embankment, and once at the top the police saw them across the road so they could summon a second taxi on the far side. By the time it arrived, one of the family was drenched in sweat and streaked with mud and brambles.
Remarkably, the gamble paid off. The family reached the airport with the clock almost out, cleared security and got to the gate as the last passengers aboard, making their Lanzarote flight by a matter of minutes.
