News presenters Kate Silverton and Isabel Webster narrowly avoid being hit in police chase crash in Hammersmith

 
The scene after the crash (Picture: Twitter/@sarah_captureit)
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Two top TV news presenters escaped serious injury “by a whisker” when a police car chase ended in a spectacular crash.

Kate Silverton and Isabel Webster, who were both off-duty, only just narrowly avoided being hurt as a suspected teenage joyrider span out of control as he travelled at around 70 miles per hour and smashed into a Vauxhall Astra.

The “dazed” driver jumped out of the Volkswagen Passat and tried to flee but was caught by officers who gave chase on foot.

Crash witness: Sky News presenter Isabel Webster

BBC presenter Silverton, 44, was walking along with her three-year-old daughter Clemency, while pushing her four-month-old baby Wilbur in a pram when the car “missed us by a whisker”.

She told the Standard she feared she and her family would be knocked down as the speeding car allegedly careered through a red light at a junction by Hammersmith Bridge in Barnes, south-west London.

She said: “I was walking with the baby in the pram and Clemency when I saw the car coming towards us. It was going at great speed with four or five police cars coming up again at high speed behind him.

“The driver then veered into the bus lane right where we were. From his direction of travel I thought he might mount the pavement - he crashed about fifty metres away.

“It certainly got the adrenaline going - I am just glad no one was seriously hurt.”

Webster, who presents Sky News’ breakfast show Sunrise with Eamonn Holmes, was in her car with her 31-year-old husband Liam Pearce on the way to a train station when the incident occurred.

Kate Silverton also tweeted about the dramatic crash

Webster, 31, who was married just six weeks ago, said it was a “miracle” they were not hit when the Astra span around several times before smashing into a bollard at just after 1pm yesterday.

She said the car “missed me by an inch”.

“We were at the junction turning left and we pulled out when the light was green. We heard this huge crash, and this car I’m guessing was doing 60 to 70 miles an hour. The car span around about four or five times and stopped when it hit a bollard on the other side of the road.

“The driver looked dazed and confused and then he got out of the car and started running away. We pointed to the police car which way he was going.

“We were really shaken, both of us. It was a miracle that we weren’t hit.

“It was just luck that no-one else was hurt, the guy was out of control. It was definitely one of my nine lives.”

In a conversation online between the presenters, Webster told Silverton: “Glad you’re ok - all happened so quickly - really scary,” to which she replied: “Didn’t it just - Clemency still talking about it tonight / glad you ok x.”

Witnesses said the speeding vehicle had been involved in two earlier collisions, hitting a car on the A3 and another - driven by a heavily-pregnant woman - on nearby Rocks Lane.

Azraa Packeer, 19, who works in a nearby pharmacy, said: “I heard a massive bang. I saw a car going very, very fast and then two police cars that had been following it.

“I came outside and then I saw two cars had been hit, then I called an ambulance. It’s all a bit of a blur.”

The crash led to long tailbacks across west London following the closure of Hammersmith Bridge.

The driver of a Vauxhall Astra hit during the chase was taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting with neck injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening.

Surrey police said a 16-year-old was currently in custody and being quizzed on suspicion of dangerous driving.

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