An elderly man, who drove his car and caravan for 12 kilometres in the wrong direction along a busy motorway in Australia has had his licence taken away.

CCTV footage of the incident in February 2012 showed Ronald Jackson driving against head-on traffic in Melbourne.

Operators of the Citylink Toll Road said they closed the fast lane to oncoming traffic, and one of its vehicles tried to stop Jackson.

Jackson's only previous offence was a single speeding ticket nearly 30 years earlier.

His lawyer said he had unknowingly suffered a stroke in the lead up to the incident which could have caused his confusion.

The court heard that he had held his license for 63 years and had passed a driver refresher course not long before the incident.