Officer covered in ammonia in attack

A police officer is seriously ill in hospital after being doused with ammonia when he was called to deal with a report of a domestic incident.

The sergeant, from Lancashire Police, was among seven officers sprayed with cleaning liquid while on the call in Ash Grove, Darwen, in the early hours of yesterday.

He suffered serious injuries to his eyes, throat and respiratory system and is being treated in Royal Blackburn Hospital. The alleged attacker – a man aged 46 – escaped through a first-floor window.