A POLICE officer attending a road traffic accident was taken to hospital after a car collided into his stationary vehicle.The constable, from the Bury St Edmunds road policing unit, was parked at the side of the A14 between Risby and Higham, when the incident happened at around 1.

A POLICE officer attending a road traffic accident was taken to hospital after a car collided into his stationary vehicle.

The constable, from the Bury St Edmunds road policing unit, was parked at the side of the A14 between Risby and Higham, when the incident happened at around 1.30am yesterday.

He had been called to an accident between a Volkswagen Golf and a Fiat Uno, and was speaking to one of the victims when a Ford Fiesta, driven by a 26-year-old man from Cambridgeshire, collided into the back of his marked police car.

The young driver and his passenger, also from Cambridgeshire, had to be cut free from their vehicle by fire crews, and were taken to West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury, where they were treated for minor injuries.

Last night, a spokesman for Suffolk police said the matter had been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

“The officer, who was in the vehicle at the time of the collision, sustained minor injuries including whiplash, and was taken to West Suffolk Hospital where he was treated, but was not admitted,” he said.

“We would urge anyone who witnessed either the original collision, or the second collision involving the police car, to get in touch.”

The man sitting in the passenger side of the police vehicle at the time of the collision, believed to be the driver of the Volkswagen Golf - a 34-year-old from Bury - was uninjured.

The driver of the Fiat Uno - a 33-year-old man from Manchester - also sustained no injuries as a result of the initial collision.

A spokesman from Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service confirmed two appliances from Bury, along with a specialist rescue vehicle equipped with heavy-duty cutting equipment, had been mobilised to the second collision, which took place between junctions 40 and 41 along the eastbound carriageway of the A14.

Anyone with information about the incident should contact Suffolk police on 01284 774100.