POLICE unintentionally fooled residents into thinking a Royal visitor was being escorted through north Oxford- shire.

Two shiny cars, one black and one red, and with a police car and four police motorcyclists flanking them, were spotted near Upper Heyford.

Several residents were so convinced a VIP was visiting they phoned the Oxford Mail .

But the cavalcade was just part of a police training exercise and no-one was in the back of the car.

It was being driven by a member of the police protection squad, the unit which drives visiting Royalty and heads of state.

Marketing executive Helen Wheatley, 23, of Kings Sutton, said: "I thought it was royalty or an MP. It is not what you expect to see every day. It was quite a sight."

A police spokesman said: "Officers need to know how to respond if the driver of a vehicle takes evasive action."

The two-day course on Thursday and Friday last week was being co-ordinated from Banbury Police Station.

Previous news story

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.