Watch as Britain's fastest police officer chases down van

Watch as Britain’s fastest police officer chases down van and three suspected car thieves – and he’s never been outrun

• Luke Watson has been a police constable for six years after joining Essex Police
• Video of him in action shows him ploughing through a fence to arrest someone 
• He plays rugby as a winger in his spare time to keep up his impressive fitness

This is the moment Britain’s fastest police officer chased down a van and three suspected car thieves.

PC Luke Watson, of Essex Police, has developed a reputation on the force for making impressive busts, event taking multiple people into custody at the same time.

The cop, who has never been outrun during his six years as an officer, has a 100 per cent success rate when it comes to footraces against suspects.

His proud bosses at Essex Police have released a video of his exploits showing him in action, including him chasing after moving vehicles and ploughing through fences to arrest suspects.

PC Luke Watson (pictured) is so speedy he has never lost a footrace against a suspect during his six years at Essex Police

In one incident in Waltham Abbey PC Watson chased down a van which tried to flee from police on foot after it became too risky for cars to follow between rows of traffic.

In the footage he’s seen smashing the driver’s window open with a baton before it drives off.

The Essex cop yells, ‘stop the car’ as he sprints after the vehicle, before apprehending the driver and passenger after the van crashes into another vehicle.

The van was linked to a series of thefts and was full of stolen goods.

PC Watson said: ‘The way it was driving was so dangerous we couldn’t go after it, so I got out and ran.

‘In hindsight I was so close between the moving cars but I thought I just had to stop it.’

The female passenger was holding a Stanley knife but was quickly overpowered by Watson.

The pair were later found guilty of theft, possession of a bladed article and a class A drug.

In another incident Watson singlehandedly chased down three young men in one race.

Video shows the officer chasing down a police van on foot after it tried to get away from police

Another shows him scaling vehicles and jumping through a fence to catch one fleeing suspect

When Watson’s police car was spotted after arriving at the industrial site, the three suspects tried to run.

Watson said: ‘I ran up the bonnet of the car, jumped over the fence and arrested one of them. I put him in handcuffs and I can see the other two in the distance.

‘I know it’s just a straight road up to another industrial estate, so I thought I’d go for it – how far could they get?

‘I jumped a couple of fences and catch up with the first one and arrest him.

‘The other one tries to lay low in the back of the car so I drag him out and then I’ve got the two of them like naughty school kids.

‘I’ve got no handcuffs and I have to get more units down to deal with them and go and find the car.’

He arrested them at the site of a stolen BMW, where multiple other car parts were also found.

In another incident he chased down three young men (two pictured above) after they tried to run away on seeing his police car

He took all three men into custody at the same time singlehandedly and actually ran out of handcuffs

When he’s not getting enough exercise at work Watson plays for Brentwood Rugby Club, Essex, as a winger to keep fit.

But he said his first love is his work: ‘I really enjoy my job. We’ve got a good team and it’s great to get out and talk to people.

‘We have a good understanding of the area and we deal with the problems that matter to the community. People like seeing police officers.

‘Anti-social behaviour is an issue that always comes up and I find that it often comes with other problems.

‘If people are making noise on the streets late at night or in alleyways, this might be drugs related.

‘If people are hanging around on driveways, they might be involved in vehicle inference or theft.’

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