A man has been arrested after the car he was driving was ‘stung’ after he failed to stop for police.

At around 11.55pm on Thursday (August 22) officers signalled for a grey Kia Niro to stop in King Street, Blackburn.

The driver of the Kia did not stop and instead drove off and ran a red traffic light, according to police.

The vehicle was then stung by officers and brought to a stop.

Officers found the car was being driven on false number plates and upon searching the car found a balaclava and a series of other registration plates.

A 36-year-old man from London was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and going equipped and remains in custody.

Anyone with information which could help police enquiries should call 101.

Speaking about this incident and a separate incident in Blackpool, Assistant Chief Constable Karen Edwards said: “These are just two examples of the work carried by our Roads Policing Unit and response teams overnight. Officers utilise a variety of tactics to identify and detect criminality.

“This was a great result and I’m pleased that all these offenders are now lodged in our custody cells. These arrests are just a small number of the hundreds we carry out, often in the hours of darkness when the public don’t necessarily see the police activity.

“Lancashire Police are working incredibly hard to prevent and detect any criminals using our road network. We will utilise all tactics available to us to apprehend such criminals- on this occasion we have deployed stinger to assist in the arrests.

“Officers will continue to be out on patrol 24/7 to do more of the same: preventing and detecting crime and keeping our communities safe.

“Once again, I thank our Lancashire communities for their support, and ask that if you have any information that could assist our enquiries, you get in contact so we can act upon it accordingly.”