Brave locals step in to stop car spinning round roundabout

Brave folk dashed into a busy roundabout to stop a motorist continuously driving around it with smoke billowing from the vehicle.
Car is stoped on the Churchill Way roundabout in LeylandCar is stoped on the Churchill Way roundabout in Leyland
Car is stoped on the Churchill Way roundabout in Leyland

Police this week praised their actions and have appealed to the public for help as they continue to investigate the bizarre incident.

The drama unfolded in Leyland on Saturday.

Onlookers watched in amazement as the car, which was displaying green L plates, went round the roundabout on Churchill Way again and again – around a dozen times.

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Three passers-by – including an off-duty police officer – ran into the roundabout in an effort to bring the vehicle to a halt.

The motorist was stopped and her car, a silver Citroen, blocked in on the roundabout, preventing it from moving.

One of the people who swooped into action was Phil Burton, founder of the Veterans Café, which launched at the Roccoco Coffee Lounge in Leyland last April.

He said: “I’d just come out of the café and there was a car coming round the roundabout at a rate of knots. It seemed the accelerator was jammed.

“It was nearly wiping out cars, mounting the kerb.”

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Phil contacted the police, as he and two other helpers – one, he said was an off duty policeman – came out of the nearby barber’s shop and dashed into action, stopping traffic.

Phil said: “The car went round the roundabout about twelve or fourteen times.

“The back end was spraying round, there was blue smoke everywhere and a smell of burning. There were lots of passers by viewing it.”

Sergeant Anthony Burgess, of the Leyland Neighbourhood Police Team, said: “Local police did respond to reports of a vehicle being driven in an erratic manner on Church Hill Way on Saturday April 21.

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“We continue to investigate this incident but would like to express our thanks to those members of the public who intervened ensuring that this incident was brought to a safe conclusion.

“Should anyone who witnessed or has mobile phone footage of this incident please contact PC 62 Connell of the Leyland Neighbourhood Team on 01772 415855.”

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said the driver of the car, a 45-year-old woman from Hesketh Bank, was arrested on suspicion of drink/drug driving and released under investigation.