A PICTURE of a car 'hogging' the middle lane of an empty motorway continues to stir debate and even cause rows a year after it was captured.

The picture taken by Dave Harford shows a car being driven in the middle lane of the M5 motorway while there are no other cars around.

It was taken at 5am in the morning and shared on the Worcester News Facebook page where it caused a stir.

It is a sight common to most drivers using the motorways around the country where the rules are to keep to the left-most lane when possible.

However the argument that they should be allowed to be in the middle lane when it is empty is what continues to cause derision among some, as can be seen below in this twitter exchange.

 

Jenny Lacey pointed out: "The lanes to the right are overtaking lanes. If you're not overtaking, you shouldn't be in it. The clue is in the name..."

Dave Olf Hundley said: "Middle Lane hoggers are just poor drivers with no confidence to change lanes confidently, shouldn’t be on the motorway."

Jason Spencer said: "As someone who drives a vehicle that can't go into lane three, I find middle lane hoggers really annoying.

"Especially when they then sit at 55-60 and won't pull over so you have to hang back since I can't undertake or undertake since both are illegal."

The post prompted others to share their frustrations with motorway driving including Harry Triggs.

He said: "The most annoying part is when you have someone hogging the fast lane and they don’t do anything over 65mph - I encounter them daily

Others felt more sympathy for the driver.

Nigel Westlake said: "This is not an example of hogging as there are no other vehicles wanting/needing to occupy that lane."

 

Keith J Dicken asked: "Why? There is literally no one there to annoy.

"We wouldn't even be talking about that car had it not been for the camera image being taken and gone public.

"It says more about our big brother state than it does about the car."

Mr Harford added: "I see this daily. For miles. It’s a common problem which infuriates other drivers. It’s lane-hogging. It’s illegal and causes congestion when lots of traffic is around.

"Traffic was behind this vehicle and said traffic had to move to lane three to go past him, causing more risk."