Pushed car into canal hoax

Published: Wednesday, 02 June 2010

MEN thought it a joke to push a car with its headlights on into a canal on the Middle Level, then call the emergency services stating that a car had left the road.

Police rushed to the scene, saw the car submerged and immediately jumped into the water, breaking the side windows to gain entry to find that the vehicle was empty, and that it was a hoax, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Foolhardy

It was then discovered that the car had been stolen, and the police believe it had been pushed into the river as a joke, but its perpetrators received a lashing from the police, with Inspector Mike Burnett stating that as fas as acts of mischief and criminal damage go, this must be one of the most foolhardy and potentially dangerous he had come across, adding:

"By deliberately giving us cause to believe that a motorist had lost control and entered the river, the offenders have put members of the emergency services at risk as the first instinct of my officers when arriving at the scene would have been to locate and save the driver and any passengers."