Police car on 'on blues and twos' collides with car at 'dangerous' crossroads in Kettering
A Northants Police car seen travelling on ‘blues and twos’ has collided with another car – a black Astra – at a Kettering crossroads.
The incident took place just before 10.30am today (Saturday, February, 21) when a police car with its sirens on was being driven along Hawthorn Road from the London Road direction.
CCTV footage seen by the Northants Telegraph shows the police car approaching the Garfield Street-Hawthorn Road ‘give way’ junction. The police car is then seen colliding with a black Astra car that had been travelling along Garfield Street from Broadway.
A mother of the Astra driver had been called to the scene and said her son had ‘just been driving home’ and that he, and his female passenger had been taken to hospital.
She said: “They have gone to A&E. Him and his girlfriend – she couldn’t breathe. They hit that hard, we think she broke a rib.
"The police car was on blues and twos. The two coppers went to A&E without being breath tested but they tested my son. I am not happy. He was just driving home.”
It is understood the officers involved in collision were breathalysed in line police protocols.
Witnesses along the street report hearing ‘a massive bang’.
One resident said: “I thought something had exploded. I came out and thought ‘s***’. There was a police car. It was wrecked. The airbags had gone off. I heard the bang.
"I went back into get my phone and called 999 for an ambulance. I’m pretty sure they had to pull her (the passenger) out. She sat down on one of my chairs outside.
"The driver said he had heard the siren and had checked his rear-views mirror to see where it (the emergency vehicle) was coming from.”
They added: "The police were only doing their job – it was an accident’”
After being spun around by the impact, the Astra clipped a parked car, finally coming to rest against a launderette wall.
At least four other police cars attended the scene, closing off the road. Passers-by helped clear debris including shattered glass.
Resident Sabrina Batchelor said she regularly sees accidents at the junction near her home.
She said: “I think it is absolutely dangerous. I avoid this crossroads, I’ve seen too many near misses. I’m surprised no-one was killed.”
A spokesman for Northants Police said: “We were made aware of a collision involving a Skoda Octavia police car and a Vauxhall Astra shortly after 10.30am today at the junction of Hawthorn Road and Garfield Street in Kettering. The police car was responding to a 999 call and was on blue lights and sirens at the time of the collision.
“Two officers and the occupants of the Astra were taken to Kettering General Hospital for treatment for minor injuries. This collision will now be subject to an appropriate internal investigation.”