A POLICE car hit a lamppost as it chased after a car which had been stolen in Basildon.

An officer needed hospital treatment for an arm injury after the marked car he was travelling in crashed in Park Avenue, Hutton, last night.

The stolen car later crashed into a garden wall in Laindon and four men were arrested nearby.

A silver Volkswagen Passat had originally been reported missing from an address in Basildon on June 19.

But the owner of the car spotted it being driven in the Laindon Link area just before 7pm yesterday and called police.

Other units attended the scene and pursued the vehicle, while the police helicopter flew overhead to help track the car.

At about 7.40pm, two officers were pursuing the car when they had to swerve to avoid a black Audi Q7 in Park Avenue, causing their car to crash.

The driver of the Audi, a 41-year-old woman from Hutton, was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.

Ten minutes later, the stolen Passat stopped after it crashed into a garden wall in Gower Chase, Laindon.

Four men were arrested nearby and taken to a local police station on suspicion of burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.

The suspects, aged 21, 22, 23 and 30, are all from the Basildon area.

The drink-driving suspect has been bailed, pending further enquiries, until Wednesday, August 12.