A serving Essex Police officer has been booted off the force for speeding to incidents with his sirens and lights blaring – despite lacking the relevant training to do so.

PC Jack Medhurst held a basic driving permit to drive police vehicles, which meant he was able to respond to incidents, including emergencies, but had to do so within the speed limit.

Between January and August of last year Medhurst drove police cars in response conditions even though he had yet to been trained to do so, using his sirens and blue lights, and exceeding the speed limit, on numerous occasions.

A two-day misconduct hearing at Chelmsford Civic Centre found PC Medhurst had breached the force's standards of professional behaviour and he was dismissed without notice.

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Prophet said: “Our officers are trained to high standards to ensure that we respond quickly but also safely in order to protect people at the scene of an incident and also those we come into contact with on our way there.

“PC Medhurst had not been trained in response driving and his actions had the potential to put both the public and also himself and his colleagues at risk.

“He has not demonstrated the level of professional judgement and driving standards that are rightly expected of every officer.

ACC Prophet added: “We always do our best to respond to high-risk emergencies within 10 minutes and to do so safely, that is why the force invests in dedicated response driver training and in maintaining all our vehicles to the highest standards. Both are essential to protecting and serving the people of Essex.”