Saving Tyrone the Tiger - from the M11

Police rescue brings toy joy

Alexis Kumi
Monday August 15, 2005
Guardian

When Simon Osborn called the police after his 10 year-old daughter Amy dropped her cuddly toy tiger out of the car window as they travelled along the M11, he may have been forgiven for thinking that little would be done.
But he was wrong. Following the call, police set up a road block to rescue Tyrone the tiger from the middle of the motorway and reunite it with its distressed owner.

PC Al Cuthbertson patrolled the stretch of road between Stansted and Harlow and spotted the tiger on the central reservation after it went missing on Friday afternoon.

Officers took the necessary measures to ensure that the rescue mission was as smooth as possible. A temporary rolling road block was set up to enable an officer to get out of a vehicle safely and rescue the toy. Tyrone was then returned to Amy in Ramsgate, Kent.

An Essex police spokesman explained why such care was taken to respond to the unusual mercy dash. "Having children of his own and knowing the importance of soft toys to their owners, PC Cutherbertson kept his eyes peeled as he patrolled the M11.

"A short time later Tyrone was spotted on the motorway and successfully captured and placed securely in the back of Golf Tango 23. A phone call to dad in Ramsgate has resulted in one delighted daughter."

"Any parent will know how attached a child can be to a cuddly toy and a few moments of inconvenience [to other motorists] would probably be quite acceptable to offset the young lady's distress."

The spokesman stressed that the force would prefer it if people contacted them, rather than opting to stop on a motorway in a bid to retrieve lost items themselves.