Family let 11-year-old drive their car to stop him playing Grand Theft Auto

Police who caught an 11-year-old behind the wheel of car were told that he was being given a driven lesson - to stop him playing Grand Theft Auto all day.

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A member of the unnamed boy’s family was so fed up with him playing GTA on his PS4 that they took him out to practise his driving skills in a real car, police were told.

Officers spotted the Vauxhall Astra in a car park in Blackpool on Sunday, March 1 and have now reported the adult for traffic offences.

Posting on Twitter, a spokesperson for the police said: "The driver of this car was 11-years-old. Yes, eleven.

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"A family member was fed up with the child playing Grand Theft Auto all day on the Playstation, so brought him out to practice driving on a car park in Blackpool.

"The adult has been reported for traffic offences."

'Back in the day this was normal'

On Twitter, Tucker Smith saw no issues with the lessons.

He replied: “Back in the day this was normal, apart from the gaming bit.”

But Alex Davies disagreed and said: “Seriously 11? Really don’t get why an eleven year old was behind the wheel.”

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Damian Evans, posting on Facebook, said: “They do driving lessons for children aged 10 and over in Bolton. He should have just booked the kid on one of those.”

You can apply for a provisional driving licence when you are aged 15 and nine months cannot take to the road until you are 16. Even then, learners are restricted to riding a moped. You must be 17 before you can legally get behind the wheel of a car on the public road. However, if you're on private land the same rules don't apply.