AN INVESTIGATION has been launched by police after a driver came to the attention of officers when one of his tyres gave way.

Officers from Dorset Police's No Excuse team were tasked to the A338 area to reported a vehicle had lost a wheel on Thursday.

On arrival they found a blue Mercedes had an issue with its front offside tyre.

A spokesperson for the team said: "The driver then explained he had earlier hit a kerb but needed to get to Bournemouth so he continued to drive at 60 to 70mph before the tyre completely gave way!

"He also states he heard a funny noise when he hit the kerb but thought it was still okay to drive. Why wouldn't you stop and check?

"The vehicle was recovered at the driver's expense and we are still investigating the incident. We are glad no one was injured."

While waiting for the Mercedes to be recovered, an Audi went by and police's automatic number plate recognition system flagged it did not have insurance and that the registered keeper had been warned about this two weeks ago.

"We then located the Audi in a car park near to the registered keeper's home address," the spokesperson said.

"The driver / registered keeper was then surprised to see us knocking at his door. He answered immediately stating he'd just got home from Salisbury and he had a licence and insurance. A few checks later showed he didn't have either. He has never reapplied for his driving licence after a ban for drink driving years ago."