Two officers were hurt trying to stop a suspected dangerous driver in Birmingham city centre during a busy start to 2020 for West Midlands Police.

Cops patrolling in Broad Street at 4.30am were alerted to a grey BMW that’s understood to have made off following a collision in Gas Street. They tried to stop the 320i M Sport model as it was held up in heavy traffic – but the driver swerved through traffic cones and sent two officers flying as he sped off.

Police back-up quickly cornered the car in Granville Street where it became pinned between a wall and roadside railings as the driver made a desperate bid to evade capture.

A 22-year-old man from London was arrested on suspicion of assaulting two PCs, dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a collision; he remains in police custody this morning. One of the officers suffered an ankle injury while the other suffered grazes to his head and arms from the fall. West Midlands Police Superintendent Jack Hadley, said:

“Thankfully neither officer was seriously hurt – but when a car speeds off while officers are trying to stop the driver it can have very serious consequences.

“It was one of many incidents during a busy start to 2020 for officers across the force area.”

West Midlands Police call handlers took a total of 2,666 calls for help from members of the public between 7pm last night and 7am this morning, including more than 2,000 emergency 999 calls.

A total of 2,060 999 calls were taken during that 12-hour period with 98 per cent being answered inside just 10 seconds.