Uber driver forced to abandon car on rocky hillside…

Uber driver forced to abandon car on rocky hillside after satnav took him down impassable track

An Uber driver had to abandon his car on a track in Oldham after it became stuck on the rocky hillside as he followed his satnav.

The Mercedes Vito minibus got wedged on an unadopted lane across Saddleworth Moor on Saturday night, March 5, as the driver tried to head back towards Manchester after dropping off a late fare in Marsden. As he tried to get back to the A62, he followed his satnav's directions onto the rocky track near Delph, before getting completed stuck.

It's thought that the driver carried along the narrow rock-strewn path until his car ground to a halt, trying to reverse back to safety before abandoning the car and calling for someone to come and pick him up. Walkers out the next day initially thought the taxi had been stolen and dumped by joyriders, until the red faced cab driver returned to the scene and revealed the truth.

Local Craig Hannah said: "It's amazing the driver got that far because it was such a rough and very steep track. Apparently he had been working in the area late on Saturday night and was trying to return to base. A passenger did say he could drive down the lane even though there was a sign warning that it was unsuitable for vehicles. If you were local you would know the road is not passable but this guy was clearly out of town and didn't know.

"He got wedged about halfway down the lane and he couldn't reverse so he carried on going. He got so stuck he apparently could not get his door open. It was a nightmare by all accounts. From what we could see the back bumper was off and the only way to retrieve it will be to drag it back up the hill. The driver is a really nice guy who has lost two days of his livelihood. He was shocked."

Have you ever been taken down a dodgy satnav route? Let us know in the comments.

Another local said: ''We heard the taxi driver was just blindly following his satnav and got stuck. I would have thought the passenger he dropped off would have known the road was impassable. Some people just don't learn from the old adage - the computer is not always right.''

Fortunately for the driver, help arrived when a tow truck was summoned to pick up the minibus, whilst a local farmer and his trusted tractor was put on standby to help retrieve the vehicle. The car will now be taken to a garage for an estimate to repair. In 2008 Oldham Council put up warning signs after scores of motorists became trapped down the same dirt-track on Saddleworth Moor after being guided there by satellite navigation systems, with some drivers reportedly left in tears after becoming stranded.