Police arrested a man who allegedly tried to run one of their officers down during a ‘car meet’.

South Yorkshire Police have recently been making an effort to tackle car meets around the county.

While these events - which see people gather to show off their cars - aren’t illegal themselves, they are often associated with anti-social behaviour and reckless driving including races.

During one such incident, on the night of Saturday, October 11, roads policing officers were called to reports of a gathering in Rotherham.

Police have arrested a man after he allegedly attempted to run down an officer during a 'car meet' in Rotherham. | SYP

placeholder image — Police have arrested a man after he allegedly attempted to run down an officer during a 'car meet' in Rotherham. | SYP

As an officer responded and exited his vehicle to speak to a motorist, the driver of a Vauxhall Mokka reportedly drove his vehicle towards the officer - who jumped out of the way to avoid being hit.

The driver fled the scene, and the officer quickly alerted his colleagues over the radio.

In response, other police teams proactively responded, quickly putting a plan in place to locate and apprehend the suspect.

The vehicle was brought to a stop on Doncaster Road near Thrybergh.

A 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence and driving without insurance.

After police questioning, he was bailed.

Sergeant Adam Renshaw, of South Yorkshire Police’s roads policing team, said: “Driving a vehicle is a privilege and one of great responsibility.

“Anyone who uses their vehicle as a weapon does not deserve to be on our roads, and we will act to ensure you are held responsible for your actions.

“We are a team of experienced, highly trained officers who proactively patrol the road network to intercept those who use our roads to commit criminality or bring those who pose a risk to innocent road users to a stop.

“As soon as we were made aware of the driver’s actions, we immediately responded and acted. This behaviour will not be tolerated, and we will continue to reiterate this through our work.”