A car has smashed into the entrance of Rishi Sunak's country estate at Chequers.
Images from outside the 16th Century estate show a white vehicle crumpled behind a bollard outside the gate as officers stand guard beside it. Police said a motorist was badly injured during the crash, but that there was nothing to suffest the incident was politically or terrorist related. The driver was arrested at the scene on suspicion of drink-driving and causing criminal damage.
Eyewitness Ian Longthorne, who was visiting a friend in the area, was outside the Buckinghamshire manor when they stumbled across the shocking scenes at around 2.30pm. The 54-year-old told the Daily Mail: "We'd gone for a walk and stopped at a nearby pub. We saw an ambulance car, a fire engine and then an unmarked police car go past, but didn't think much of it.
The mangled white vehicle appeared to have smashed into the bollards (Ian Longthorne/Solent News)"We carried on with our walk and my friend showed me a public path that goes through Chequers where you can look back to the entrance. We could see the car and I took a couple of shots from there, before I left and took some from outside the front entrance. It's always a shock to see a crash and this was one was quite an unusual one."
In a brief statement a spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "We are investigating a road traffic collision on Missenden Road, today (Tues). A white Volkswagen Scirocco hit the barriers at the entrance to Chequers shortly after midday.
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A 44-year-old man from Buckinghamshire was taken to hospital after being arrested for drink driving (Ian Longthorne/Solent News)"The driver, a 44-year-old man from Buckinghamshire, who was the only occupant, suffered serious injuries and has been taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he remains. He has also been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and drink-driving. While we are still in the very early stages of our investigation, there is currently no evidence to suggest there was any intention to harm anyone. Anyone with information should call 101 or make a report on our website."
The 10-bedroom country manor is PM Rishi Sunak's weekend home (Ian Longthorne/Solent News)Chequers is a luxurious country house found just outside of Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire, about 41 miles from 10 Downing Street. One theory is it is named after the chequer trees that grow on the estate. It’s not the biggest of stately homes, with just 10 bedrooms (Buckingham Palace has 240) but it has vast swathes of land - around 1,500 acres are at the owner’s disposal. It also features a huge art collection, with 190 pieces dating from the early sixteenth century to a 1937 piece by none other than Winston Churchill.
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