A gang of yobs ‘blocked’ police from leaving a Cheadle Heath estate — and hurled ‘objects’ at cops as they stopped a car.
Police say they were pursuing a stolen vehicle on Councillor Lane, Cheadle, which failed to stop.
The car was then abandoned on Swythamley Road, with officers standing by, waiting for a recovery vehicle to arrive.
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Then a ‘large number of people’ surrounded the police and tried to stop the car being taken, Insp Ian Ashenden told the Manchester Evening News.
"While the officers remained with the stolen vehicle, waiting for it to be recovered, a large number of people surrounded them and attempted to prevent the recovery of the vehicle by blocking roads,” he said.
"Sadly, objects were thrown at the officers during the incident, fortunately causing no injuries but they did cause damage to police vehicles.
"We had to deploy additional resources to help disperse the crowd and to prevent further disorder.”
The pursuit began at around 6pm yesterday evening (Monday, December 20).
Inspector Ashenden called the incident ‘disappointing’ and ‘unnecessary’.
He added: "This was a really disappointing incident and while we were dealing with this completely unnecessary reaction, it took our limited resources away from helping other vulnerable residents across Stockport.
"The incident was brought to a safe conclusion with the vehicle being safely recovered and no-one being injured.”
Police say no arrests have been made as of Tuesday evening, with enquiries ongoing.
In the aftermath of the trouble, councillors for Edgeley and Cheadle Heath have slammed the ‘disgraceful attack’.
A joint statement from Coun Sheila Bailey, Coin Philip Harding, and Coun Matt Wynne, said: "This is a disgraceful attack on Police Officers performing their core duties and clearly a severe breach of the peace.
“A criminal investigation is open, so no further comment would be appropriate at this stage."
