A man who ran off when he crashed his car was arrested after he was confronted - by a large EMU.

The suspect swerved into a shopfront and landed at almost at 90 degrees to the road.

He then ran from the scene with a passenger and attempted to flee through fields, forests, gardens and allotments for around 15 minutes.

Locals say they ran out of town and into a farm which keeps exotic animals.

One witness says the pair came face to face with a mother emu protecting her young.

Wiltshire Police caught up and arrested him before he came in any harm.

The witness said: "The mother obviously felt threatened and proceeded to attack him.

''I'm a fisherman, and I have been around swans when they are with their young and I know how protective mother birds are so I thought, there's no way I'm going in there.

"They are massive."

The incident took place on Monday (July 25) on Gloucester Street, Malmesbury, Wilts.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: “At around 12.30pm we received a call about a single-vehicle collision in Gloucester Street, Malmesbury, where a vehicle had collided with the front of a building.

"The driver and passenger of the vehicle were seen to leave the scene, so officers carried out a search of the local area.

"They have both now been detained and enquiries are ongoing."