By Nick Taylor, BBC News North West reporterA few hours after the news broke, more than 600 lolly-like creatures began crossing the M40.
A lolly is an unusual breed of mammal that can live up to 50 years, but is usually only active for short periods of time.
The lolly crossings in the UK have been going on for years, and the UK has the largest population of lolly and other small mammals on the planet.
It’s a problem for the animals, who have to travel a lot of distances, so it’s a constant challenge for the police and other authorities.
There have been more than 700 lolly crossing incidents since 2015, and a lolly can weigh up to 200kg.
But the police are worried about the animals in the first place, because the roads are not safe.
“I don’t want to see a lot more lolly across the M50.
It is such a busy road,” one officer said.
“If we had a lollipop, we could stop it in one piece.”
This is the area of the M42 where the first lollipops have been seen.
But it is not the only area where lollips are crossing.
“The traffic has changed dramatically in recent years,” said Peter McLean, of the Association of Chief Police Officers.
“We don’t have enough staff to deal with all the lollies.”
So what can be done?
The UK has strict regulations about the number of animals that can be allowed on roads.
The law says that only animals that are a threat to people can be on the roads, and only for “exceptional circumstances”.
But the rules also state that lollie crossings can happen on a “permanent” basis, with the animals kept in the area where they are crossing or in a “special care area”.
If there is no other alternative, the animals must be put down.
But there are a lot different ways to get lollypops onto the M5, so the lolly experts at the Department for Transport (DfT) say that it’s important to keep an eye out.
They say that lolly crosses on the motorways are most likely to happen if they have been set up as a “traffic management scheme” for the M25, which is the main road linking the capital with the North East.
It has an on-street parking lot, but there are usually two vehicles and a pedestrian crossing the road at the same time.
“A lolly crossing can take anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes, depending on the number and size of lollys that are crossing the motorway,” said a DfT spokesman.
“Traffic management schemes are designed to help manage traffic volumes and to keep the public safe.”
In the first week of October, there were about 400 lolliptops crossing the northbound M25 on the North West M4, and another 200 crossing on an old motorway.
“In order to reduce the number that are doing this, it is important that we have a plan to manage them so they don’t do more damage,” said the spokesman.
But how many lollis are actually crossing the UK motorways?
“We can’t really say that.
The majority are in the North and Midlands,” he said.
They can cross in the middle of the night or at dawn.
But at night, the majority of lolls are crossing on roadsides and in small groups, and at dawn the lolls can cross with a little less than 10 vehicles, with some crossing on one lane.
How does the government deal with the problem?
“There are a number of ways we can manage lolli crossings,” said John O’Connor, head of the Department of Transport, which oversees the UK roads.
“One is to set up a number plate enforcement system that allows us to issue warning notices, or to have officers stationed at the crossings.”
In these instances, he added, the road works with the local authority to find out where the lols are and how many there are.
He said the number plates are used to alert the local authorities to the presence of lols, and that the number plate is also used to stop lolliots.
“They can be taken away by the police, or they can be removed by a lorry operator,” he added.
“Once we have found out who is doing this and who is driving these vehicles, we will remove them.”
But is this an effective solution?
Mr O’Connors solution is to “use traffic management schemes” to keep people safe, but the traffic management plans are usually a long way from the reality of the situation.
“There is a huge amount of confusion,” he told the BBC.
“It is a big problem that is not being dealt with effectively.”
He said that if he had a numberplate, it