A POLICE car shredded its tyres and careered out of control into another vehicle last night after a high speed chase went wrong.

The police Ford Mondeo chasing a stolen car drove over a stinger anti-theft device and crashed into a young couple's Vauxhall Cavalier.

It is first time an accident has happened in Bolton using the stinger - a bed of nails device which is thrown across the road to stop stolen vehicles in their tracks.

Today Bolton police chief Supt Ian McLoughlin pledged to carry out a detailed inquiry but said it was too early to say whether the stinger - used by police throughout Britain - would be taken out of use.

Cavalier driver Paul Melding, aged 24, of Ellesmere Road, Daubhill was helpless to avoid the collision.

He crawled out of the car but his wife Fiona, 23, was in shock and had to be helped out of the wreckage in a neck collar by paramedics and firemen.

The accident happened as the police car chased a stolen turbo-charged Vauxhall Calibra along Manchester Road, Over Hulton, at 9.10pm. Other officers placed a stinger device across Manchester Road near the junction with St Helen's Road.

The Calibra, with two men inside, drove over the stinger and although the two nearside tyres were deflated it failed to stop.

Then, as police were dragging the stinger off the road, the police Mondeo also drove over the spikes which ripped its nearside tyres, causing the driver to lose control.

The police car collided with Mr Melding's Cavalier which overturned, landing on the driver's side. Firemen had to force open the passenger door which had taken the full force of the impact.

Mr and Mrs Melding were taken to Bolton Royal Infirmary and detained suffering whiplash injuries. They were both "comfortable" earlier today. The police driver also received whiplash injuries but was released after treatment.

Another police car chased the Calibra until it crashed into a wall in Little Hulton. The driver was being questioned this morning.

The stinger device is designed to deflate tyres without the driver losing control. But if there is a sideways dragging motion it can cause the tyres to burst violently. It was used for the first time in January 1994.

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