TWO police officers who pursued a car before it was involved in a high-speed collision “were not trained or authorised to do so”, an investigation has found.

The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) looked into the incident early on November 22, 2018, in North Lanarkshire.

During the one-mile pursuit, officers followed the car between Cleland and Newmains before it hit a crash barrier, left the road and rolled upside down. The driver required hospital treatment. During the pursuit, one officer told the area control room he was trained when he wasn’t. The report recommended both officers receive refresher training.

A second report published yesterday also called for more training of officers following the serious injury of a 31-year-old woman in Fife in June last year.

She was the victim of a domestic assault after a man was arrested by police but later released. The Pirc said a failure to update the Police National Computer led to him being rearrested for the same offence – and that staff failed to carry out checks that would have shown that his bail conditions included not approaching or making contact with the woman.