Three-year-old girl found in back of speeding car after 140mph police chase

A picture tweeted by NorthYorksPolice RPG of the Audi after it was stopped.

North Yorkshire Police are appealing for motorists who witnessed the police pursuit between Scotch Corner and Boston Spa on Tuesday afternoon to come forward - and believe some cars may have been hit by the vehicle.

Officers began following the grey Audi A4 at around 4.25pm, when it failed to stop for them on the north-bound carriageway near Catterick.

The driver then continued north through roadworks before leaving the motorway at Scotch Corner and then returned to the A1, heading back on the south-bound carriageway.

It continued south at speeds well over 100mph, weaving in and out of traffic and onto the hard shoulder.

With the help of the National Police Air Service, officers stopped the vehicle, which had blacked-out windows, on the exit slip road of the A1 near Boston Spa.

Two occupants, a man aged 31 and a woman aged 22, both from Rotherham, were arrested at the scene. They remain in police custody.

A three-year-old girl was discovered inside the vehicle and was not restrained by a car seat or seat-belt, according to police.

She was made subject to a emergency protection order, meaning she will be looked after until a decision can be made about her long-term care.

Paul Cording, a roads policing group sergeant for North Yorkshire Police, said: “I find it incomprehensible that someone put their family at such risk by having an unrestrained child and travelling at these speeds in such a dangerous manner.”

Police recovered a large quantity of cannabis from the vehicle. North Yorkshire Police’s Road Policing Group tweeted that the car had reached speeds of over 140mph, and that subsequent house searches revealed even more drugs.

Officers believe a number of motorists will have witnessed the suspect vehicle’s manner of driving and are appealing to them to come forward - including any that were hit by the vehicle.

Some motorists have come forward already.

Anyone who has not yet spoken to the police is urged to call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Harrogate Serious Crime Team, quoting reference number 12160086012.

No-one was injured in the pursuit.