POLICE have apologised for soaking a pedestrian with filthy water as they drove through a puddle.

James Stubbs had been walking to work when the police vehicle mindlessly drove through a flooded section of road, forcing him to wear soggy shoes and uniform throughout his eight-hour shift.

As previously reported, the incident was captured on hackney carriage driver Julie Matthew’s dashboard camera as she travelled behind.

Hampshire Police originally defended their actions – claiming it was safer for them to drive through the large area of surface water rather than swerving onto the opposite side of the road or stopping abruptly.

Now officers have issued an official apology after the 23-year-old filed an official complaint.

James had been walking from Eastleigh railway station to Spirit Health Club, where he works as a gym instructor.

But as he walked along Leigh Road at midday on Wednesday, January 27 a police car showered him with dirty water.

He said: “The other cars were avoiding the puddle, then the police car just drove straight through it. It got me completely soaked while I was wearing my work stuff. With an eight-hour shift ahead of me it wasn’t ideal and it wasn’t the cleanest water.

“I appreciate what the police do but they do need to be more aware of the roads, considering the rest of the drivers were going around the puddle.

“Ideally I would like to see the officer wear wet shoes for the day but really I just want them to be more aware.

“They could have at least stopped and apologised.”

Splashing a pedestrian by driving though a puddle could be an offence under the Road Traffic Act – with a maximum penalty of £5,000 and between three and nine penalty points.

According to police, drivers are charged when their driving amounts to “a clear act of incompetence, selfishness, impatience or aggressiveness in addition to inconvenience to road users.”

A spokeswoman from Hampshire Police said: “We can confirm that we have been in contact with the member of the public who was splashed by one of our officers driving through the puddle in Leigh Road, Eastleigh.

“We have apologised to him on behalf of the force and have arranged to visit him at a date convenient to him.”

Julie’s husband Paul, also a taxi driver, told the Daily Echo he was disgusted by the officer’s actions. He said: “It's disgusting. The young lad got soaked and had to carry on walking. I am not saying they did it deliberately but my wife pulled around it herself and if you’ve got no choice you should slow down.

“They should have pulled over to at least apologise.

“If we had done it they probably would have pulled us over and spoke to us. They should run by the same laws as us.”