Motorcyclists blow cool £10,500 in M3 spill

[PeteSC]

Motorcyclists blow cool £10,500 in M3 spill

Richard Jinman
Friday June 17, 2005
The Guardian

One motorist said it was like driving into a cloud of money. But for the two unlucky motorcyclists who lost £10,500 in cash when their rucksack burst open on a motorway, there was no silver lining.
Drivers on the busy stretch of the M3 near Winchester could scarcely believe it when £20 notes began blowing out of a rucksack being carried by the bike's pillion passenger. Several motorists stopped on the hard shoulder to help gather them, but strong winds quickly blew the notes across both carriageways.




The distraught motorcyclists and several drivers tried frantically to collect the cash. But when a count was done only £500 of the £11,000 had been recovered.
Judy Mizen, who was driving in a car behind the motorbike with her husband when the bag burst open at about 7.30pm on Tuesday night, said: "It started off as a few notes, but the bag quickly started spewing huge chunks of money. At first we thought it was just paper, but then I said, 'Oh my God, it's money!' It was like we had hit a wall of money."

Things only got worse for the motorcyclists, who were from the Isle of Wight. Realising they were unlikely to recover any more cash they continued on their way, but their Kawasaki broke down two junctions along the M3.

They have also attracted the suspicion of police. "The fact they had that much money on them did cause suspicion," a spokeswoman for the road policing unit said yesterday. "As a result various checks are taking place into the backgrounds of the individuals. Their excuse was that they were going to buy a car, but we're checking out all the possible options."

Ms Mizen and her husband, Chris, did not stop to help collect the money as they felt it was "a bit dangerous". But she said she saw at least four cars pull over.

"It's that dilemma, isn't it?" she said. "People we have mentioned it to either say, 'You couldn't possibly take any' or, 'I would have grabbed some'. But the bottom line is that it isn't your money."

Police do not know whether the missing cash will be recovered. "There seems to be £10,500 unaccounted for and we don't know where it is," the spokeswoman said. "The money was blowing all over both carriageways of the motorway and could have gone anywhere."