A POLICEWOMAN was seriously injured after stopping to help the driver of a van that had broken down on the A34.

The roads policing officer, who is based at Bicester, was helping the driver of a white Ford Transit box van when a blue Ford Mondeo travelling north along the road hit her and a police car.

A 63-year-old man, from Leicestershire, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of dangerous driving and has been released on bail until Tuesday, February 8.

The collision happened north of the Peartree interchange – just before the Kidlington junction – at about 8pm on Thursday.

The northbound carriageway was closed for several hours while crash investigators tried to work out what happened and recovered the vehicles.

The police officer was taken to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital but her injuries, which include a broken leg, are not life threatening.

Dorothy Letkowska-Hudson was stuck in the traffic jam behind the incident.

She said: “To be honest I was just glad nobody was killed. We were stuck for about three hours.

“Eventually, police turned everyone around in the road so we could drive off.”

Thames Valley Police is not revealing the identity of the injured officer.

Anyone with information should call Sgt Nigel Welham on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.