POLICE are on the hunt after a car involved in a failure to stop ploughed into a riverbank by a Sopley pub.

A blue Subaru failed to stop for police in Sopley, before coming off the bridge and hitting the bank by the Woolpack Inn.

The passengers then made off, and an extensive search was undertaken to locate them.

Police dog Ernie was also called to help locate the two people involved after the crash late on Sunday evening.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Police said: “We can confirm that our officers were involved in a failure to stop pursuit at 11.38pm on Sunday November 29 in the Sopley area.

“A blue Subaru was involved in a collision and the passengers had de-camped from the vehicle at the Woolpack Inn before fleeing from the scene. An extensive search of the area was conducted by officers, including the use of police dogs, but neither passenger was located.

“Police enquiries are ongoing.”

Police Dog Ernie tracked from the car and found some DNA evidence, but as yet the passengers have not been found.

It comes just two years after a van crashed off the road by the village pub.

A black van, belonging to electricals supplier Fonix, came off Ringwood Road and ended up wedged over the stream by the Woolpack Inn in November 2018.

In 2015, staff at the Woolpack Inn witnessed a spate of crashes in the road which runs from Christchurch to Ringwood.

The surge in incidents came during the previous scheme of work on the A338.

Teela Liberty-Spark, co-owner of the Woolpack Inn, told the Daily Echo: "The council put in a post to protect the bridge and we have enough protection there with all the fencing.

"There is no reason if people drive sensibly that crashes should happen.

"The post has been taken out and that is supposed to stop this sort of thing from happening.

"People have been going round the road several times to take a look and filming it on their phones which isn't safe.

"Hopefully it gets moved soon but they are going to have to close the road.

"We just want people to drive safely.

"There was a series of incidents when the A338 had work a couple of years ago.

"People use this road as a detour and there tends to be larger vehicles coming along here as well."