Police officer in crash on bridge

The sole Middlemarch police officer was uninjured after she crashed into the end of a bridge near Sutton, Strath Taieri, yesterday morning, but charges could be laid, police said.

Sergeant Tania Baron, of the Dunedin strategic traffic unit, said Constable Helen Fincham-Putter, the officer in charge of the Middlemarch station, was returning from a job in a marked four-wheel-drive police car when the incident happened about 9.15am.

While she was driving south on Sutton-Mt Ross Rd, the car lost traction on a bridge with wooden slats.

The car skidded and hit an "arm" at the end of the bridge, extensively damaging the front of the vehicle, Sgt Baron said.

There were no passengers in the car.

Sgt Baron said the investigation into the crash would be the same as for any member of the public, including the likelihood of charges.

Const Fincham-Putter has been given a police vehicle from Dunedin to use.