Father surrenders to police after motorway is closed for 33 hours

An armed hostage crisis that closed one of Britain's busiest motorways for all of Saturday ended yesterday when a man dressed only in socks and green underpants released his son, aged two, and surrendered himself to police.

An armed hostage crisis that closed one of Britain's busiest motorways for all of Saturday ended yesterday when a man dressed only in socks and green underpants released his son, aged two, and surrendered himself to police.

The man, aged 45, who had kept the toddler hostage in a camper van at the side of the M4 for 33 hours after apparently running out of petrol during a police chase, emerged semi-clothed from the back door of the vehicle at about 9.45am.

"The guy walked out quite calmly and was carrying the child," an eyewitness said. "He walked about 10 paces away from the van and was met by a policewoman.

"He handed the boy over to the woman and, as he did so, he kissed the boy on the cheek. A couple of other police officers put a blanket round him and quite gently escorted him to a police van. There were about a dozen armed police officers at a distance."

The father, who has not been identified, is believed to have taken his son hostage at a caravan park near Land's End on Friday evening after a confrontation with police over the custody of the child.

Devon and Cornwall police said officers went to the caravan park at 7.30pm to deal with a domestic dispute. They saw him brandishing a weapon, reported at the time to have resembled a gun but now believed to have been a knife.

The police immediately withdrew to avoid endangering the child and the man made his getaway in his caravanette.

He was pursued down the M5 and M4 in a 200-mile chase involving three police forces. The 1960s-style camper van eventually appeared to run out of petrol early on Saturday morning and pulled over on the hard shoulder of the M4 between junctions 16 and 17 near Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire.

A 17-mile stretch of the motorway was closed, causing tailbacks up to 20 miles long as well as massive disruption on nearby roads. The M4 was not reopened until 11.30am yesterday. Police said it was the longest they could remember the motorway being closed in both directions.

Food and drink was delivered to the camper van throughout Saturday as police negotiators talked to the hostage taker by telephone. Substantial progress began to be made on Sunday and it was the man himself who suggested that he should strip to his underwear while handing over his son, to assure police officers that he was not carrying a weapon.

A spokeswoman for Wiltshire police said the boy had been taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon, and was in local authority care. He was in good health.

His father had been arrested on suspicion of making threats to kill and was being questioned by Wiltshire police at Westlea police station in Swindon. He is expected to be transferred to Devon and Cornwall police custody today to be questioned about the original confrontation.

The spokesman said the boy's mother was not involved at the start of the incident and did not alert police to the custody argument.

June Brownridge, the owner of the Seaview caravan park in Sennen, Cornwall, where the hostage drama began, said the man had been "perfectly calm and friendly" during a two-week stay at the site.

"We saw him walking around with his son. He told me he worked in the Bahamas renting out property and was looking for a base in Cornwall as he loved this part of this country.

"He said he would be moving down with his wife and son from the north of the country," she said. "He seemed like a very nice and pleasant chap."