JCB reverses into police car

Two police officers were injured in the early hours of this morning (Friday) after a stolen JCB digger reversed into their car.

The officers were following the vehicle having responded to a report of a JCB dragging its bucket at Dunchideock, near Exeter, at roughly 2.45am. 

After tracking the digger down at Tedburn St Mary village, police said the driver stopped it and reversed into the officers' Ford Focus car. They sustained minor injuries.

The driver continued along the road before crashing into a house and causing thousands of pounds of damage before making off. No one inside the property was hurt.

It transpired after the incident that the JCB had been stolen from a landfill site in Kenford.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "No attempt was made to stop the vehicle and without warning it rammed the police vehicle. A foot chase followed after the driver hit the house, but he was not located."