Kingston police are hoping to trace and say thanks to a learner driver who gave a lift to two officers running to an emergency scene.

The woman driver, who was having a lesson with an instructor, pulled over after being flagged down by the officers.

A suspect had been evading two officers of the Chessington Safer Neighbourhood team, who had seen him "acting suspiciously" in the Merritt Gardens area at around 8pm on Thursday.

He was hiding from them until a member of the public pointed him out.

The officers called for back-up and two of their colleagues, who did not have a car, decided to run the 1.2 miles from the Chessington patrol base to the scene to help.

They flagged down passing cars as they ran, and the learner was the first to stop.

A post on Kingston Police's Facebook page said: "As expected the learner driver drove safely and along with her instructor remained calm throughout the journey. She dropped the officers off near to the scene and they ran the last part.

"The officers got to the suspect just in time and helped with the arrest.

"Sadly we were unable to say thank you to the members of the public that assisted us last night. However we would like to trace them so we can say thank you properly."