A MAN arrested on Thursday night in Poole Park in connection with a hit-and-run crash which left a woman and two children injured is still being quizzed by police.

The 25-year-old Bournemouth man was detained following a full-scale search operation sparked by a sighting.

The police helicopter was seen hovering above the park, Whitecliff and Ashley Cross and readers reported a major police presence across the town.

A Dorset police spokeswoman said the suspect was being quizzed by officers investigating a fail to stop accident last weekend. 

A Matiz containing a woman and two children was struck during a police chase involving a blue Vauxhall Astra allegedly attempting to escape from officers.

Police tried to stop the vehicle along Turbary Park Avenue in Bournemouth at around 6.05 pm on Sunday. The Astra was followed down Mandale Road whre it mounted a kerb and drove down a narrow footpath.

Moments after officers stopped following the Astra it collided with a yellow Daewoo Matiz at the bottom of the footpath. The occupants suffered minor injuries.

The Astra driver and a passenger fled from the vehicle and were believed to have got into another vehicle before driving off. Police appealed for information about their whereabouts.

Speaking at Poole Park, eyewitness Lara Fascione told the Daily Echo: "The rumour is that the police have arrested someone who had been on the run for a while."

Tracy Miles, from Lytchett Matravers, said: “The police seemed to converge on Poole Park quietly, without any fuss or any sirens. They all congregated around a Silver Renault Clio.”

Dorset police thanked the public for their co-operation.