Police deal with driver after riders were ‘met with a middle finger as he passed at speed’

Police have dealt with a driver who was caught on camera giving riders the middle finger while ignoring their requests to slow down.

Two officers from the Cheshire Police rural crime team were sent out to the young male driver, who had been reported for offences while passing the two riders on the road.

The riders said they saw the vehicle approaching with no signs of braking, and when they signalled to ask the driver to slow down, “they were met with a middle finger as it continued past at speed”.

The officers thanked the riders for reporting, and supplying video footage of, the offence.

“Following a report of a driver using a gesture to riders after he had been asked to slow down, we were able to identify the driver,” a spokesman for the rural crime team told H&H.

“The incident was a public order offence, and in this case, the victim wanted the young driver to be advised about his actions. She wanted him to understand why they had asked him to slow down and for it to be explained to him about the importance of how and why he should pass horses in future to prevent an accident. It is important to work with the victim and offender to make the roads safer in the future.”

The spokesman added that in accordance with the riders’ wishes “the driver was warned about his behaviour with full details taken for if he was to offend again”.

“The rural crime team works with the British Horse Society and our roads policing team to help improve and educate people on horse and cyclist safety on our rural roads using close-pass operations and general awareness events,” he said.

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