Boy, 13, arrested after being seen dropping wooden post off Northampton footbridge

Police have arrested a 13-year-old boy following the latest incident of missiles being thrown at cars from footbridges in Northampton.

The teenager was nabbed after being seen throwing a wooden post off a pedestrian bridge over Lings Way on Sunday evening (April 25).

Officers say the post hit a vehicle, described as a small red car being driven by a blonde woman.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: "We would like the driver of this car — or anyone who may have seen the incident — to get in touch by calling 101, using incident number 401 of 25/04/2021".

The 13-year-old has been released pending further enquiries.

Police issued warnings after a fire engine answering a 999 call was targeted by an object thrown off a footbridge in nearby Talavera Way.

At least five incidents have been reported on the same bridge close to the Southfields roundabout, at the junction with Lings Way.

Vehicles travel at up to 60mph along Talavera Way and a Northamptonshire Police spokesman said: “It goes without saying that throwing stones or items of any kind off a bridge and onto the road is an incredibly dangerous thing to do.

"We are urging parents in the area to please speak to their children and explain how dangerous this is before someone gets seriously injured, or even killed.

In December last year, a trucker was seriously injured when a rock thrown from a bridge over the A45 Nene Valley Way shattered the lorry’s windscreen.

And a 15-year-old was locked up for more than three years for manslaughter in 2008 after dropping a 44lb breeze block from the Doddington Road bridge over the A45, killing a lorry driver instantly when it hit him in the chest.