Fridge-carrying marathon runner stopped by police

Police stopped Daniel as he ran past them lugging a fridge on his back.

A marathon trainee said police nearly mistook him for a thief after they saw him running with a fridge on his back.

Daniel Fairbrother was stopped by officers in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, while practising for the London Marathon.

He said the officers quickly realised he was not stealing anything and "it ended with them shaking my hand".

A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokesman said: “We would like to wish Daniel all the best with training for the marathon”.

Mr Fairbrother hopes carrying a fridge will help to raise £10,000 for Diabetes UK.

“It’s in support of my best mate Sam, who’s a Type 1 diabetic. I tried to undertake a challenge last year which didn’t go as planned, and I promised to come back bigger and stronger," he said.

A fan of Cool Runnings, he has named the fridge Tallulah after the bobsleigh in the movie.

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Mr Fairbrother said he was on his second run carrying Tallulah when he noticed a police car turning around.

“They put their blue lights on, held up the traffic and stopped me to find out what on earth was going on. Understandably they had not seen anything like it before!

“One police officer wound down his window and said: ‘You understand we’ve got to stop you, is that a fridge on your back?’

After Mr Fairbrother explained his marathon challenge, he said the officer cracked a joke: “He said ‘You do know if you order from Currys, they will deliver it for you?’”

Daniel has named his fridge "Tallulah" after the bobsleigh in Cool Runnings

Mr Fairbrother said although it was "embarrassing", he didn’t mind at all.

“I would expect the police to do their job and check on someone running about with a fridge. If I got pulled over another 10 times I wouldn’t be annoyed.”

He said support from the local community had been “overwhelming”.

“I've seen the results of Diabetes UK with my best mate, and I'm just grateful to do something to hopefully help.

“I'm not a doctor and can’t come up with a fix, but I can fund those who do,” he added.