Three men arrested in relation to an incident where a police officer was rammed with a stolen car in Accrington have been released under investigation.

The incident happened just after 8.50pm on Thursday November 29 when the officer approached a suspected stolen BMW 2 Series in Accrington.

The officer asked to speak to the driver of the car, which had stopped at some traffic lights at the junction of Stanley Street on Eastgate.

The car reversed, hitting a police car and the officer before the driver of the BMW made off from the scene.

Detectives are still hunting the driver of the car.

The police officer suffered an ankle injury and was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital to be treated.

On Friday November 30, a 24-year-old man from Accrington was arrested on suspicion of a burglary offence relating to the original theft of the car, and a 24 year old man from Burnley was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods relating to the stolen vehicle.

A further arrest was made the same evening, when a 19 year old from Burnley attended a police station.

He was detained on suspicion of assault and burglary.

The three have now been released under investigation pending further enquiries.

A 38-year-old man arrested a short time after the offence was released without charge.

The driver of the car is described as a white man aged in his mid-twenties, wearing a dark coloured hoody and a baseball cap with a white emblem on the front.

He was seen to run from the crashed stolen vehicle up Avenue Parade away from Eastgate.

Detective Inspector Tim McDermott said: “This is being treated as a deliberate attack on a police officer trying to detain the driver of a stolen vehicle.

"The car was taken from a burglary at an address in Accrington in the early hours of November 29 and the offender has shown total disregard for the life of the officer and the safety of the public.

"The driver remains at large and we need to find him quickly before anyone else is injured.

"If you know anything about this incident please call us on 101 quoting incident reference 1165 of November 29.

"Our thoughts remain with our injured colleague and his family and we wish him a speedy recovery."