Man and children were reported missing day before car crashed into pub wall

BREAKING: Man arrested for attempted murder after crash with children in carThe children - two girls, aged seven and eight, and two boys, aged nine months and 21 months - were seriously injured in the crash in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The 29-year-old driver, who was also injured, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in police custody.

Police said the man and children had been reported missing from Hythe, in Hampshire, the day before the crash.

A Hampshire Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that a report was made to police on the afternoon of Tuesday 22 August that a man in his 20s and four young children were missing from Hythe.

"The man and the children were located after being involved in a single vehicle collision in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, in the early hours of Wednesday 23 August.

"The collision is being investigated by South Yorkshire Police with assistance from Hampshire Constabulary."

South Yorkshire Police said the man and children were travelling in a grey Dacia Logan when it collided with the front wall of a pub on the A629 Copster Lane, in the Oxspring area of Barnsley, at around 12.25am on Wednesday.

The driver was arrested at the scene on suspicion of dangerous driving and being unfit to drive through drink or drugs and was later arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

A police spokesman said all four children remain in hospital in serious conditions.

An investigation is underway to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting incident number 26 of 23 August 2017.