Police officers, a sniffer dog and the force helicopter spent five hours of New Year’s Day searching for the driver of a car found on its side just outside Coverack.

Officers from Helston were called out at around 4.30pm. When they arrived, they were told that the driver had “run off.”

A police spokesperson said that, backed up by the dog and helicopter, the officers spent the next five hours searching for the driver in the surrounding rural area “as they feared they may have been drinking and may have been injured in the incident.”

Acting Sergeant Steve Rowe, from Helston Police Station, said: “Once the driver was not located, support was sought from a dog unit and the National Police Air Support Unit to locate him.

“The driver was later located safe and well. They have now been interviewed under caution for related [alleged] offences.

“Alcohol may have factored in the incident and I urge all people not to drink any alcohol if they are going to drive.”