A brother and sister said they 'feared for their lives' after they were almost hit by a 25-year-old Citroen driver being chased by police in the centre of Norwich.

Officers in two police cars pursued the driver from Rosary Road to Ber Street between the junctions of City Road and Finkelgate, where they cut off and then detained him.

The incident, which happened at the heart of rush hour yesterday evening, came to an abrupt end at just after 5.30pm when the driver hit the curb and punctured his front passenger side wheel.

It had begun on Rosary Road on the east side of the River Wensum 10 minutes earlier when the driver's Citroen Xsara failed to stop.

Officers in unmarked cars then briefly lost the driver for approximately three minutes, before relocating him on Plumstead Road and eventually cornering him on Ber Street.

A sniffer dog was brought to the scene to search the car after the incident.

Officers arrested the man at the scene, who did not try to flee.

The unmarked car that performed the stop received a slight dent as a result of the chase's final maneouvre.

One driver told the EDP following the incident that he was forced onto the side of the road on Heartsease Lane by the speeding Citroen, who then cut across traffic as he turned down the Rider Haggard Road.

Police could not reveal any more information at this stage.

Another said that he saw the car being chased down the cycle lane on Rouen Road by three police vehicles and driving in the cycle lane. The witness said that the front passenger side wheel had already burst and 'rubber was flying everywhere'.

As the Citroen sped down Ber Street in the final stages of the incident, one driver reported having to pull into a side street to allow the cars involved in the chase to get past. The driver also reported a 'clunking noise' coming from one of the black cars which appeared to have something hanging off its bumper.

If you saw the pursuit or have any more information please contact charlie.coe@archant.co.uk.