Essex crash: Woman dies and several injured after police chase near Waltham Abbey

Police pursuit ends with at least one fatality on Parklands, Waltham Abbey

The accident on Parklands involved three vehicles (Google maps)

A woman has died and a number of people have been injured after a car being chased by police crashed in Essex.

The three-car collision happened near Waltham Abbey just before 10pm on Thursday, Essex Police said.

The force said officers from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire road policing unit had attempted to stop the car on the motorway before the collision on Parklands.

The woman, who has not been identified, died at the scene. The road was closed after the incident.

In a statement, the force said: “The incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct as it followed a police pursuit involving one of the cars, which officers from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire road policing unit had attempted to stop on the M25.”

Witnesses and anyone with dash cam footage are being asked to call the Serious Collision Unit on 101.

The crash comes weeks after two people died after a car being chased by police drove on the wrong side of a main road and crashed into a coach in London.

In January, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said fatalities and serious injuries following pursuits were “thankfully rare” as it investigated four fatal incidents involving patrol cars across the country.

Paul Radcliffe, an 18-year-old, was killed on 19 January when he was hit by a car which failed to stop for police in Oadby, Leicestershire.

Days later, Holly Burke, an off-duty police community support officer, died after being seriously hurt in a crash in the West Midlands. On the same day, a 26-year-old refugee from Eritrea died after being hit by a police car responding to a 999 call in east London.

Jessie Whitehead, 74, was riding a mobility scooter when she was hit by a marked police car as it responded to an emergency in Bedworth, Warwickshire.