A POLICE dog named Hero and a member of the public helped prevent a real life horror story after a speeding van tried to evade police on Halloween night.

The van was driven through County Durham villages reaching speeds of 50mph in residential areas while youngsters would have been out trick or treating.

Eventually, two men were arrested with help from Hero the police dog and a brave member of the public.

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “It goes without saying that anyone who drives in such a fashion puts innocent people at risk, but thankfully no-one was hurt on this occasion.

“Officers from the road policing unit are trained to a very high standard to enable them to carry out pursuits and bring them to a safe ending.

“We would also like to thank the member of the public who assisted in one of the arrests.”

The incident started about 9.20pm on Saturday night when a local response officer, on routine patrols in the Craghead area, near Stanley, noticed a Citroen Berlingo van being driven in an erratic manner.

He indicated for the van to stop but it failed to do so, and officers from the road policing unit, PC Andy Guest and PC Peter Gibson, took up the pursuit as the van headed through Craghead, Edmondsley and then Witton Gilbert heading towards Lanchester.

Along the way they were joined by dog handler PC Tony Drummond and his dog, Hero.

As the van headed through Witton Gilbert it was seen to cross the central white line and reach speeds of 50mph in a 30mph zone.

On Durham Road in Annfield Plain, the road policing unit was able to bring the van to a halt next to an unoccupied bus shelter using a containment technique.

The spokesman said: “The two occupants then jumped out of the vehicle and made a run for it.

“PC Drummond warned them to stop otherwise he would set the dog loose, they ignored his warning and within a couple of minutes one of the suspects was caught by Hero, enabling PC Drummond to make an arrest.

“The other suspect had run off in the direction of Morrison Busty, pursued by PC Peter Gibson.

“A member of the public who was in the area managed to grab hold of the man as he ran past, which allowed PC Gibson to complete the arrest.”

Police said the incident lasted15 minutes.

The men, one aged 26, from Wallsend and the other aged 23, from Stanley, were detained on suspicion of various offences including drink-driving, driving while disqualified and in the case of one of the men, suspicion of possession of a class A drug.

After interview they were bailed till December 17.