Ronnie Pickering defends giving 'muppet' moped rider 'severe b****cking' in road rage video

'I have been painted out to be some kind of a monster all over the world – but that’s just not me'

Still from video showing a Hull road-rage incident (YouTube)

A grandfather who became an internet sensation after footage of his rant at a moped rider went viral has insisted he is “not an aggressive guy”.

Ronnie Pickering, 54, was caught on camera pulling up alongside the moped in his Citroen Picasso in Hull.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked, before shouting: “Ronnie f****** Pickering!”

“Oh, well. Brilliant!” his bemused adversary replied, adding: “You someone famous, are you?”

The grandfather-of-five proceeded to call the moped rider a “c***” and “f***ing muppet”, while remonstrating him for “f***ing hanging about” and challenging him to a fight.

Footage of the confrontation has been watched by more than half a million people around the world and spawned countless memes and mash-up videos, after being shared on Reddit as “a very British road rage incident”.

Following Sunday night’s blood moon and eclipse, comedian Jack Whitehall joked on Twitter: “Ronnie Pickering was so angry last night he turned the moon red.”

Mr Pickering, dubbed “road rage Ronnie”, has now apologised for his outburst, telling the Hull Daily Mail he is “not an aggressive guy” and merely wanted to give the rider “a few of my thoughts”.

He claimed the moped had overtaken him unsafely while he was queuing at a junction to turn right and then not moved off quickly enough.

“Because of this muppet I have been painted out to be some kind of a monster all over the world – but that’s just not me,” he added. "I wanted to give him a severe b****cking for the manner I believed he was riding."

Mr Pickering offered to meet up with the moped rider and talk over the incident. The man has not yet taken up the offer.