Police car ‘crashed’ near M40 service station before suspects flee on motorway

Suspected clone lorries sped across the M40 after hitting a police car, officers say. The incident happened close to Warwick Services northbound on the M40 earlier this morning (May 9).

Officers from Warwickshire Police’s Operational Patrol Unit (OPU) responded to allegations of people in the lorry park stealing items from the trailer of a parked lorry. “When we reached the spot, the criminals fled in a cloned Renault truck and rammed our police vehicle to escape,” the team said.

“We found the clone lorry abandoned unattended on the live outer lane of the M40.” They went on to explain that the suspects got away – running across the freeway.

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“The offenders managed to escape in the dark after crossing the southbound carriageway before we could reach them,” the team said. But police recovered £15,000 worth of stolen vodka from the cloned HGV.

Officers returned the 150 cases of vodka back to the truck from which it was stolen. “We are determined to reduce this type of theft and will continue to proactively patrol our service areas at night to target and catch these criminals,” the team concluded.

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