A drunk and drugged-up driver has been jailed after he stopped his van in a motorway overtaking lane — and fell asleep.

Rhys Kelly, 25, was found by police slumped across the front seats of his Mercedes Sprinter van on the M5 in the early hours.

They were forced to close the motorway, causing long tailbacks for frustrated drivers.

Kelly woke up and drove off but was stopped half-a-mile away and arrested.

Kelly, of Rednal, west Midlands, had smoked cannabis and drunk alcohol before getting behind the wheel.

He admitted dangerous driving and failing to stop when required while unfit to drive through drink and drugs.

He was jailed for 14 months and banned from driving for 19 months when sentenced at Worcester crown court.

It heard Kelly stopped his van in the fast lane near junction 5 of the M5 near Droitwich, Worcestershire, at 1.30am on August 23 last year.

Describing CCTV of the incident, Mark Hambling, prosecuting, said: ‘The vehicle is stationary in the outside lane of a four-lane motorway.

‘This is a case where a vehicle, not a lorry but a substantial vehicle, is stationary in the lane.

‘You can see it’s there for a period of time, so much so that a highways patrol officer and a police officer actually stop the traffic on the motorway.

‘Although this happened at 1.30am, the incident still caused some delay to traffic.’

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