Child was in car hit by microwave thrown from moped in Gainsborough

Police say it is a "miracle" no-one was seriously injured after a microwave was thrown through the windscreen of a moving car.

Lincolnshire Police are investigating after the incident in Gainsborough on Saturday night, 15 October.

A man, thought to be in his 20s, suffered minor injuries when the appliance was thrown at his Ford Fiesta by the passenger of a moped travelling in the opposite direction on Heapham Road.

Officers have confirmed that a child, thought to be aged 11, was also in the car.

Pictures given to ITV News show shattered glass littering the car's interior, with part of the microwave on the driver's seat.

Supt Philip Baker said: "It's a miracle that it didn't go fully through the windscreen. Had it been another few inches closer towards the centre of the windscreen we would have been dealing with a completely different incident and the level of injuries of the driver would have been significant.

"I don't think people realise, when a car's travelling at 40mph and the moped is coming past at 30mph, that's 70mph that [the] microwave oven has impacted that windscreen."

A friend of the family said the driver was briefly "knocked out" by the incident.

She added: "The child doesn’t want to get in a car at the minute. It could have been so much worse."

The incident is the latest in a string of reports of missiles being thrown from a moped at vehicles. Other incidents reportedly involved a goal post and an axe.

• Supt Philip Baker said the incident could have been far more serious

Supt Baker said there were nine incidents at the weekend alone, with others reported previously.

He said: "This isn't just a stupid incident. This could have led to serious, significant injuries to the driver of that car.

"That could have been somebody seriously injured or killed driving in that vehicle who was just heading home for the night.

"I believe there are people out there that know who has done this, and we ask that they please come forward with that information."

Cllr Matt Bowles, of Lincolnshire County Council, said: "It's a very dangerous and stupid incident. It's mindless stupidity.

"It's an issue that seems to have been going on for the last few months around town, not continuously but on odd occasions, these mopeds have been driving up and down streets knocking wing mirrors off, riding around with no helmets on."

Police are carrying out extra patrols following Saturday's incident and have appealed to anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage to come forward.