Hot pursuit of suspect car ends with a spectacular crash bringing traffic to a halt in Barnet High Street

Traffic in Barnet High Street was at a standstill after a dramatic late morning crash when a car being followed by police cars struck the side of a No 34 bus waiting in the lay-by next to the Red Lion public house.

The crash happened opposite Barnet police station and the suspect car ended up being corralled by seven police cars.

Eyewitnesses described the impact when the car careered into the bus hitting it just below the driver’s cab.

The bus driver and a suspect – who was immediately handcuffed by police officers – were both shaken up by the crash and taken to hospital.

“There was a tremendous bang,” said the driver in the next No 34 waiting in the lay-by reserved for buses on the Barnet Church to Walthamstow Central route.

“Suddenly the whole place was surrounded by police cars. It must have been some sort of hot pursuit and a suspect was dragged out from the crashed car.

“No wonder the bus driver needed to go to hospital. The car that hit his bus was a write off. The driver wouldn’t have known what was happening.”

Students from Barnet College lined up to watch the action.

“For a moment it looked like a scene being filmed for tv…there were so many police cars surrounding the crashed car,” said one of the eyewitnesses.

Once the shaken-up suspect was safely in handcuffs, officers sat him down on the bench in front of High Barnet Police Station before escorting him across the road to a waiting ambulance.