Police pursuit leads to arrests and bag of cash and drugs seized

A carrier bag containing a large quantity of drugs and cash has been recovered from someone's driveway after it was thrown from a vehicle during a police pursuit.

The vehicle had jumped red lights and reached high speeds, and once safely stopped a child under a year old was found in the rear of the car, thankfully unharmed.

Two men and a woman from Bristol were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

At around 9.30pm yesterday, Friday 20 March, officers pursued a vehicle on the A40 heading towards Cheltenham as there was intelligence it was involved in criminality.

It failed to stop and a pursuit ensued through Cheltenham where items were thrown out of the car. It was then brought to a stop on Tewkesbury Road.

Officers searched for the discarded items and a bag containing thousands of pounds and suspected crack cocaine were recovered from someone’s driveway. The vehicle was also seized.

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Cooper said: "This was a fantastic team effort involving staff in our control room and officers from firearms, roads policing, response unit, and the dog handler.

“It was shocking for officers to find that after a pursuit, where a vehicle failed to stop, had skipped red lights and reached high speeds, a small child had been inside the car throughout.

"Our specially trained pursuit officers ultimately manoeuvred the vehicle safely to a stop in a lay-by and thankfully no members of the public or those inside the vehicle were injured.

"During these times of uncertainty please be reassured that we will still be doing our utmost to tackle criminals and keep our county safe from crime, as this incident shows.

"The coming weeks and months are going to be testing and stressful for everyone. Please be patient, kind and tolerant – this will reduce the demands on the police and help us to keep focusing on the things that our communities want us to be dealing with."

All three arrested remain in custody for questioning today, Saturday 21 March.