Channel 5 Traffic Cops: Officers embark on high speed pursuit through Derbyshire

Jaw-dropping footage of Derbyshire police officers embarking on a pursuit through the county has been released ahead of the third episode of Channel 5's much-loved police programme, Traffic Cops. Wednesday's show will give you an insight into the day-to-day dangers faced by police across the country each day as PC Nick Lovatt leads a chase through residential streets in North Derbyshire.

The short clip shows PC Lovatt eyeing up a black Audi along with two other units. He says, "There's always a risk that they may be aware of our presence and fail to stop without being requested to stop. Persuits are inherently dangerous by nature. You are continuously assessing the viability of continuing that pursuit."

The video continues, showing PC Lovatt weaving through residential streets, hitting speeds of around 70mph at times. "Everything has got to be risk-assessed and we have to find that balance of continuing that pursuit to detain that driver against what risks that driver has taken," he added.

Near the end of the clip, PC Lovatt takes a sharp left turn and continues the chase off-road through a narrow hedge, where it abruptly ends. It's one of the stories captured in Wednesday's episode of Traffic Cops and shows how Nick and the team try to disrupt organised groups using British roads to commit crimes.

The programme, which Jamie Theakston narrates, was first broadcast on the BBC from 2003 to 2016, before moving to Channel 5 in 2017. The latest series focuses on Derbyshire's road policing teams and features a behind-the-scenes look at how the county's officers deal with traffic-related incidents on our roads.

The chase features in the latest episode of Traffic Cops which will be shown on Channel 5 at 8pm tonight, Wednesday, November 6. The full episode will also be available on My5 catch-up.