A baby was found in the back of a car by police after a high-speed chase that ended in the arrest of two men and a woman on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

The pursuit took place at around 9.30pm on Friday, when officers followed a vehicle on the A40 heading towards Cheltenham after receiving intelligence that it was involved in crime.

Police pursued the vehicle, which jumped red lights and reached high speeds, and items were thrown from the window before it was finally brought to a stop on Tewkesbury Road. Officers later found a bag containing thousands of pounds and suspected crack cocaine that had been discarded in a driveway.

Det Chief Supt Richard Cooper of Gloucestershire police said: “This is a fantastic team effort involving staff in our control room and officers from firearms, roads policing, response unit, and the dog handler. It was shocking for officers to find that after a pursuit … a small child had been inside the car throughout.

“Our specially trained pursuit officers ultimately manoeuvred the vehicle safely to a stop in a lay-by and thankfully no members of the public or those inside the vehicle were injured.

“During these times of uncertainty, please be reassured that we will still be doing our utmost to tackle criminals and keep our county safe from crime, as this incident shows.

“The coming weeks and months are going to be testing and stressful for everyone. Please be patient, kind and tolerant – this will reduce the demands on the police and help us to keep focusing on the things that our communities want us to be dealing with.”

The three people arrested remain in police custody.