Crayford Marshes police chase ended when fleeing teen and officers became bogged down
Crayford Marshes police chase ended when fleeing teen and officers became bogged down Reuters

A police chase came to a sticky end when the suspect and three pursuing officers became trapped fast in mud.

Scotland Yard mounted a dramatic air rescue to pluck the police officers and a teenager from boggy marsh land in which they were all stuck, in south London.

A helicopter was forced to hover low over Crayford Marshes and haul those trapped aboard because landing on the ground may have caused the chopper to sink into mud.

Officers became bogged down after chasing a 19-year-old man who had fled from a Peugeot van following a car pursuit in Bexley.

He evaded the police for an hour on foot, until the impassable marsh brought his escape to an end.

By the time police officers aboard the helicopter freed him from the mud, he was showing signs of hypothermia, police said.

The man was charged with vehicle and drug offences. A 15-year-old who was also in the Peugeot van was arrested on suspicion of the same offences.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the officers were left feeling "fatigued" by the chase across Crayford Marshes.