Police have detained a man after he allegedly stole an Amazon delivery van loaded with £1,000 worth of parcels.
The 25-year-old man led officers on a high-speed pursuit reaching approximately 100mph.
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The chase spanned three towns across Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
It began in Wigan, passed through Bolton, and ended in Chorley, where the vehicle ploughed into pedestrian barriers and struck a car that had been waiting at traffic lights.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed the dramatic pursuit lasted roughly 40 minutes.
The van was driven at three times the posted speed limit.
The incident began when GMP received a 999 call at approximately 6:23pm on Wednesday, alerting them to the theft of the delivery vehicle.
Within a quarter of an hour, officers had tracked down the van and attempted to bring it to a halt without initiating a formal pursuit.
However, the driver accelerated away, triggering a lengthy chase that would take police across borough boundaries.
The suspect is accused of repeatedly refusing to pull over.
During the pursuit, a cyclist was struck by the van.
No serious injuries were reported from the incident.
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Considerable damage was also inflicted on multiple items of street furniture along the route.
Police apprehended the suspect at the crash site, where he was held on suspicion of motor vehicle theft, dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving whilst under the influence of a controlled substance, and possessing both Class A and Class C drugs.
He has since been released on bail while investigations continue.
Amazon delivers an average of 4.4 million items per day across the UK.
This figure is calculated from Amazon’s record logistical data, which shows that the company delivers more than 1.6 billion items annually via its fast same-day and next-day delivery networks to UK Prime members alone,
PC Nat Mannyng, from the transport unit at GMP, said: “This was an extremely dangerous incident which saw a vehicle reaching speeds of 100mph through residential streets where families, pedestrians and other road users were going about their daily lives.
“The driver showed a complete disregard for public safety and innocent members of the public were harmed as a result of his actions.
“Thankfully, there were only minor physical injuries but his behaviour could have resulted in a serious collision.”
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