Suspected drug dealers smashed into a police van after damaging 26 cars as they tried to escape pursuing officers.
Police, who believed their car contained a large quantity of class A drugs, had followed the vehicle to busy Queensway in Southend, when it attempted to escape and bounced off the cars as it sped off.
It drove between traffic in Queensway in the direction of the Deeping roundabout, hitting the sides of 26 vehicles.
The area descended into traffic chaos just after 3pm yesterday, as extra officers were drafted in to block off the road in a bid to stop the car getting away.
Supt Steve Currell, of Southend police, watched the drama unfold on CCTV.
He said: "They just drove off between two lines of traffic. We couldn't believe it."
Published Friday, June 20, 2003
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