Four children take car on 1,000km roadtrip in Australia

Four children aged 10 to 14 packed fishing rods in a parent’s car, left a farewell note then drove about 1,000km down the Australian east coast before they were stopped the next day.

Acting police inspector Darren Williams said on Monday the children were stopped by police near Grafton in New South Wales on Sunday, then locked the doors and refused to get out.

He said a police officer used a baton to break a window of the Nissan Patrol, which had been reported stolen.

The children are suspected of failing to pay for petrol at two petrol stations and were briefly chased by police when a 13-year-old was suspected to have been driving.