Police stopped a car near Exeter last night after it was spotted driving the wrong way along the A38.
A police helicopter was used to track the vehicle along the road as it drove in the wrong carriageway towards Exeter.
The helicopter shone a light on the vehicle to warn other drivers during the incident, just before midnight.
There are no reports of any collisions, although several near misses were reported.
The helictopter tracked the car from Ashburton to Chudleigh, where it was stopped by police from Newton Abbot.
The police helicopter crew tweeted: "Deployed to A38 Ashburton reference vehicle on wrong carriageway.
"Able to illuminate vehicle to warn others. Vehicle stopped at Chudleigh."
Duty Inspector Adrian Woon said: "We received a number of calls from members of the public after two to three near misses while the vehicle was travelling northbound in the south bound carriageway.
"There are reports it was in lane three which is the fast lane."
He said that the first alert came in at 11.30pm after the car was seen near the old racecourse near Buckfastleigh, Lower Dean and Drumbridges at Heathfield.
The driver was stopped at Chudleigh at 11.39pm.
One driver who was on the A38 at the time said: "I passed someone driving the wrong way down the A38 on my way back home tonight. Was rather surreal."
* A 67-year-old from the Plymouth area was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.
