Two news readers had a narrow escape after a "high-speed" police chase resulted in a dramatic car crash in Barnes yesterday afternoon.

BBC News’s Kate Silverton and Isabel Webster, from Sky News, both found themselves at the centre of the chase, which saw one man arrested.

A 16-year-old was arrested nearby the crash on suspicion of dangerous driving. Police have 24 hours after the arrest to make a decision about charging him with a crime.

One witness posted on Twitter that the car had hurtled past him on the A3 in Tolworth at about 80mph shortly before the crash.

The car is understood to have entered the A3 at the Oxshott junction.

Surrey Police said at about 12.20pm yesterday a VW Passat had failed to stop for a marked police car in the Salfords area of Surrey, near Redhill.

A spokesman said the car was chased by Surrey Police vehicles and a police helicopter and at one point onto the A3 where the Metropolitan Police 'joined and led the pursuit'.

Miss Silverton, 44, was walking along Castelnau, at about 1.05pm when a VW Passat, being pursued by a marked police car, smashed into a Vauxhall Astra.

The BBC News presenter was walking with her daughter Clemency, three, and pushing her four-month-old son Wilbur in his pram when she saw the car speeding towards her.

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A suspect was arrested by police on suspicion of dangerous driving.

 

Miss Silverton said: "It was going at great speed with four or five police cars coming up again at high speed behind him.

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Pic Linda Aldous

"The driver then veered into the bus lane right where we were.

"From his direction of travel, I thought he might mount the pavement - he crashed about 50m away.

"It certainly got the adrenaline going - I am just glad no one was seriously hurt."

Sky News presenter Isabel Webster, 31, also found herself witnessing the incident.

She was driving in her car with her husband, Liam Pearce, when the driver allegedly careered through a red light at the junction with Lonsdale Road and crashed into another car.

Miss Webster said: “This car came flying through the junction and hit the car behind us, which was turning right.

“There was a huge explosion of noise – it was quite scary, my husband was driving and I was just saying ‘oh my god, oh my god’.

“He must have spun two or three times and ended up facing us – how he stepped out of the car unscathed I don’t know.”

She said passers-by helped the man who sustained neck injuries after the speeding car hit his Vauxhall Astra.

She added: “He was being dragged away from his car on all fours being attended by members of the public, total strangers.

“It is lucky no one was killed – a split second before and it would have been us.”

The Vauxhall driver was taken to St George's Hospital, Tooting, with a neck injury, but his injuries are not thought to be life threatening.

Hammersmith Bridge and Castelnau was closed after the accident but reopened at about 5pm.

Did you see the chase? Contact laura.proto@london.newsquest.co.uk or call 020 8722 6337.