Two police officers have suffered serious injuries after a car was driven at them, with a man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after the incident.

Police believe it was a deliberate act, which came after heightened concerns about the dangers officers face while performing their duties.

The incident happened early on Monday morning at Littlehampton in West Sussex, police said. The two officers, a woman and a man, were conducting a roadside drugs check when they and the man they had stopped were hit by a Mercedes saloon that had come towards them at speed.

Sussex police said the 20-year-old driver of the Mercedes ran off but was apprehended and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Police said they were also searching for two passengers believed to have been the car.

The Sussex police assistant chief constable Julia Chapman said: “This is being investigated as a deliberate attack on two police officers in the course of carrying out their duties. Their injuries, and that of the man they were with, whilst serious, are not believed to be life threatening.

“Two passengers in the car remain outstanding and we urge the public to help us trace and bring to justice all of those involved.”

Sussex police said the two constables injured were local response officers. The two officers and the person they had stopped were hit at about 1.05am on Monday on the A259 at the Body Shop roundabout at Littlehampton, the force said.

Officers asked anyone with information or who witnessed the incident to contact them online or by calling 101, and quoting Operation Oxbridge.