THE A1 is known for hold-ups, but this is ridiculous. There's a chap who has been stuck on the road near Selby for about 2,500 years, and he is still going nowhere.

Archaeologists say the discovery of the remains of a man and his chariot on the route of the new A1 at South Milford rewrites the history books.

They have speculated that this is a funeral plot. The tribesman was buried along with his intact two-wheeler according to ancient tradition.

We have our own theory.

Early roadworks at the A63 interchange caused terrible chariot congestion, and with the Little Chef agonisingly out of reach the poor fellow expired in his vehicle.

Locals then started a campaign for a widened A1, and two millennia later the Highways Agency gave it the go-ahead.

Updated: 10:55 Wednesday, December 03, 2003