A POLICE car was rammed and its windscreen smashed with a hammer, leaving an officer with glass in his eye during a pursuit in Craven.

Police responding to a spate of crimes involving car and tool theft in the area on Monday (September 26) had their vehicle rammed by men in a Volkswagen Passat between Rathmell and Wigglesworth.

Shortly beforehand, at around 2.25pm, a Black Mitsubishi L200, registration VK56UBU, was stolen from premises between Hellifield and Otterburn. It has not been recovered.

A police spokesperson said: "At around 4.15pm on Monday, the offenders stole a number of Makita tools from a van in Main Street, Rathmell, Settle. Officers attended the scene and pursued the offender’s vehicle, a grey VW Passat registration OW15HDN, which was heading in the direction of Wigglesworth.

"During the pursuit, the offenders rammed the police car and one of the offenders smashed the windscreen with a hammer, causing significant damage and resulting in an officer getting glass in his eye.The vehicle made off towards Lancashire."

Police say the same men were also responsible for a number of attempted thefts of vehicles at Halton West and at West Marton.

The tools stolen from Rathmell were: Cordless impact driver, cordless circular saw, cordless router trimmer, cordless multi-tool and a cordless jigsaw.

Anyone who witnessed the incident, saw any suspicious activity in the area at the time or has any information about where the stolen tools might be, is asked to get in touch with police by calling the non-emergency 101 number, press one and speak to the Force Control Room.

People can also contact Crimestoppers unanimously on 0800 555 111. Use reference number NYP-26092002-0296 when passing on any information.