POLICE have shared footage of the shocking moment a suspect fled across six lanes of motorway traffic.

Earlier this week, officers from GMP's Traffic Unit told the story of a man who was stopped after police spotted a van towing another van behind it on Junction 4 of the M61.

But, after they stopped the vehicles, a man leaped out of one van and made a reckless dash across traffic.

The footage shows the lucky suspect making it across the road although another man who was left behind in the van was arrested.

The incident happened at just after 4pm on a busy afternoon on February 12.

READ MORE: Suspect sprints across six lanes of M61 to avoid police

In a Tweet about the shocking escape, GMP's Traffic account said: "There's no way I'm running across 6 lanes of a live motorway as I want to make it home safe at the end of a shift.

"I'm happy enough that one of the two offenders are now sat in a cell."

The driver of the van was arrested for theft after officers discovered that the vehicle was being towed on false plates and was recently stolen.