Van driver arrested after police chase through snow and ice in North Yorkshire

A suspected car thief was arrested after an early hours police chase through rural North Yorkshire as temperatures plunged to -10C.

The man, in his 30s, was in a van that was spotted by police parked on a rural road at Flixton near Filey at around 1.45am on Friday.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said temperatures widely fell to -10C. They said: "The officer illuminated his blue lights, but the driver didn’t want to stop and accelerated away.

"What followed was a 30-minute pursuit along numerous rural roads which were covered with ice and snow.

"Thankfully, due to the treacherous weather conditions, the pursuit remained at fairly low speeds."

The van was followed into the Humberside Police force area before a stinger device was used to puncture its tyres.

The driver then abandoned the vehicle and ran off.

After a short chase, officers from both Humberside Police and North Yorkshire Police detained him in a garden.

He was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, drug driving, car theft and drug possession.

Ch Insp Tom Ibbetson, of the North Yorkshire Police Specialist Operations Unit, said: “This is another example of great work by our operations unit during proactive patrols in the early hours of the morning.

“We work around the clock in any condition to target the people who cause the most harm to us and our communities."

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