An 11-year-old boy is in a critical condition in hospital after he was struck by a police van in Lancaster on Thursday (25 May) night.
Lancashire Police were attending an emergency call when the collision occurred with the boy who was crossing Owen Road just before 8:30pm, the boy was taken to Royal Lancaster Infirmary in a critical condition.
Following the collision, the police voluntarily referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which has since confirmed they are investigating the matter.
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A police spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with the child’s loved ones at this time.
“An investigation is underway to establish the full circumstances that led to the collision. We have voluntarily referred this matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), as is standard with an incident of this nature.”
The IOPC later confirmed that around two hours after the collision they opened an investigation into the incident.
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“We have declared an independent investigation into the actions of Lancashire Police prior to a road traffic collision in Owen Road, Lancaster at around 8.30pm tonight, in which a child has been injured," they said in a statement.
“We understand that a marked police van, with its lights and sirens on, was in a collision with an 11-year-old boy.
“We were notified by the force shortly after the collision and declared an investigation at 10.37pm. IOPC investigators are heading to the scene and the police post incident procedure to begin gathering information.”
The IOPC said they are in the early stages of their investigation.
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According to the BBC, the force of the collision also knocked over a traffic light and the road has been closed as a result.
They also reported that signs asking any potential witnesses to the crash to come forward and provide information about the incident have been put up around Owen Road, which leads into Lancaster city centre.
In addition to investigators looking over the site for evidence to determine what happened, there have also been engineers sent to inspect the traffic lights that were knocked down.
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The crash took place outside a building that used to be a secondary school.
Anyone with any information or who has any CCTV or dashcam footage that may assist the investigation is being asked to call 101 and quote log 1388 of May 25.
This crash comes shortly after a recent incident in Wales where two teenage boys died in a crash, which sparked a riot after the e-bike they were riding was followed by a police van.
Joe Harker