A suspect is in custody after a frantic chase in Biggleswade and Potton yesterday that saw a hatchback twice ram a police car.

Officers rushed to Biggleswade after the car, a silver Peugeot, was reported to be driving dangerously in the town.

Road policing officers said on Twitter last night that when they located the Peugeot, it rammed their car before driving off at high speed.

After “colliding with members of the public and ramming police car again”, they said, the vehicle came to a halt in Potton’s King Street at about 4.30pm and the driver tried to flee on foot.

A suspect was detained, and remains in custody.

Police said nobody was hurt.

Witnesses said three or four cars were hit, and buildings too. A trailer was overturned, and a petrol spillage had to be cleaned up.

The damaged police car was recovered by a breakdown truck.

Posting in the ‘We Love Potton’ Facebook group, neighbour Judy Oliver said: “It could have been a lot worse if someone had been on the pavement when the trailer tipped over – or if the petrol had caught light.

“Thanks to our emergency services – good job well done.”

Other social media users pondered who would be footing the bill for all the damage, and suggested they may have seen the driver hurtling around the area’s roads previously. One young woman said the car had almost run her over.

The Comet is awaiting further details from the police.

Editor’s note (8.20am, August 31): A previous version of this article incorrectly said, based on information received from the police, that the conclusion of this incident happened in Biggleswade rather than Potton. We corrected this within minutes of publication after realising the mistake. We apologise for the error.