THREE men from the Kingswinford area have been arrested in connection with a traffic incident which sparked a police pursuit across three counties.

Cops gave chase after a police car was rammed by a truck in Wolverhampton Road, Cookley, last night (Thursday April 18).

Two police officers from the Central Motorway Police Group were injured during the incident which started at 7.10pm when a flat-bed truck, which had just been pulled over, reversed into the cop car before speeding away towards Wolverhampton.

Despite suffering severe whiplash injuries, the motorway officers summoned other traffic cars to pursue the recovery lorry which crossed two county borders into Staffordshire and the West Midlands.

Available motorway cops and a police helicopter were also involved in the eight-minute chase which ended shortly after the vehicle was found abandoned on Coopers Bank Road in Lower Gornal at around 7.15pm.

Officers on the ground carried out a search of the area and three men - aged 26, 27 and 35 from the Kingswinford area - were subsequently arrested on suspicion of theft and were today (Friday) being questioned by police.

Both male officers rammed by the truck received hospital treatment for their injuries; one was discharged late yesterday evening; the other was admitted overnight and was expected to go home today.

Inspector Sion Hathaway, from the Central Motorway Police Group, said: "Whoever was driving the flat-bed truck showed complete disregard for my officers as well as other drivers on the road last night.

"Throughout their reckless drive, they caused a number of minor crashes but thankfully nobody else was hurt and after only eight minutes, we stopped them.

"The officers who initially stopped the truck managed to quickly get colleagues to the scene despite being in severe pain.”

Anyone who witnessed the pursuit from the initial ramming of the officers to the abandonment of the truck, or anyone who has any information that could help the inquiry, is urged to call 101.