A couple behind the wheel of a front-end loader have led police on a snail's pace chase along a rural NSW highway.
The chase, which played out over more than an hour at speeds of about 45 kilometres per hour, only came to a stop when police fired shots at the heavy vehicle.
About 9.40am on Tuesday, police were tipped off about a 14-tonne front-end loader travelling along the Silver City Highway at Broken Hill.
Police allege the loader was stolen.
Officers found the vehicle travelling south along the highway before it pulled off a u-turn and headed the other direction.
The chase went for about 40 kilometres until police fired a number of shots at the vehicle.
No one was injured but a man and a woman in their twenties were arrested and taken to Broken Hill police station.
