POLICE told last night how they had no choice but to use a Taser to stop a driver who was trying to speed off with an officer desperately hanging from a pick-up truck.

The officer was trying to arrest the driver after a high-speed pursuit through a Darlington housing estate ended when the suspect vehicle went off road and became stuck in thick mud.

As the officer opened the driver door of the pick-up to try to make an arrest, the suspect lashed out, kicking and punching the officer while gunning the engine to get out of the mud.

As the vehicle began to move free, threatening to drag the officer beneath its wheels, colleagues made the split-second decision to use a Taser to overpower the driver.

Sgt Kevin Salter, of Durham Police, said last night: “The mud was flying everywhere and the noise was horrific as he kept his foot to the floor.

“My colleague was half in, half-out of the car which was getting traction again and starting to pull forward and at that point the driver was Tasered in the chest.”

The suspect and passenger, both Darlington men and both aged around 40, were arrested and remained in police custody last night.

The pursuit began in the early hours of Sunday morning in the Pierremont Road area of Darlington.

At around midnight, a member of the public reported a driver swerving across the carriageway in Millbank Road.

Sgt Salter, a member of Durham Road and Policing Unit, was in an unmarked police BMW car when he spotted the silver Ford Ranger as it emerged from Pierremont Road.

Police began to follow the suspect vehicle without using sirens until back-up officers were in place, but the Ranger suddenly sped off through the town's Denes area, parts of which have a 20mph speed limit.

Sgt Salter said: “They obviously clocked us behind them and have accelerated away at high speed through The Denes. It is a housing area with parked cars on either side and the road conditions were damp, but they have sped through at up to 60mph, pulled straight out at junctions and mounted the pavement.

Eventually, the vehicle mounted the pavement and turned onto a patch of grassland opposite Ivywood Court.

Sgt Salter said: “It went off road into the field and then started to get bogged down in the mud. It slowed and gradually came to a stop, but the driver still had his foot to the floor.

“My colleague opened the door to get hold of the driver and he resisted arrest, lashing out and throwing punches and he still had his foot to the floor.

“The vehicle was starting to move forward again which could have dragged the officer with it. It’s very rare that we would ever Taser someone but, at the end of the day, a vehicle is a dangerous weapon.”

Both the stricken Ford Ranger, which is registered to a business outside the Darlington area, and the police BMW became stuck and had to be recovered later in the day, still spattered with flecks of mud churned up from the field during the incident.

Neighbours believe the driver attempted to use the field as a shortcut, but was unaware that the area is renowned for being boggy.

An Ivywood Court resident, who did not want to be named, said: “Obviously, the driver mustn’t know this field because it gets very boggy in the middle.

“He wouldn’t have tried driving over it if he’d known because it ends up like a marsh at times – there’s no way he would have got across it.”

Witnesses said a recovery truck sent to remove the vehicle was also caught out by the soft ground and had to use a winch to pull the stranded Ranger out of the mire.

One witness said: “They were on for about two-and-a-half hours trying to recover it because it was stuck fast in the muddy field – they couldn’t drive it off.

“He brought his breakdown truck around and had to use the winch to get it out. Then he drove the pick-up onto the van and left.”

Two men were still being held by police last night. The driver was arrested on suspicion of failing to stop for police, dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving without a licence, resisting arrest and suspicion of taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent. His passenger was arrested on suspicion of taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent.