Latest news straight to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A Birmingham woman is locked in a road crash insurance battle after claiming a 4x4 hit her car but then drove off – because the Countess of Wessex was on board.

Receptionist Gill Walker, 59, was changing lanes on the Bristol Road in the city centre when the rush-hour collision took place.

She pulled over to swap insurance details after indicating for the other driver to do the same – but the vehicle failed to stop and immediately drove off.

Gill says a second 4x4 with blue flashing lights then pulled up alongside her Peugeot 107. It contained police officers who told her the other vehicle was not allowed to stop because there was a ‘Royal on board’.

The bump took place on November 13, when Sophie Wessex was in the city, opening a rehabilitation centre for injured soldiers.

The Court Circular confirms she was the only royal on official business in Birmingham that day and the Royal Family’s official Twitter account reported on the visit.

West Midlands Police confirmed the accident involved a convoy, saying the 4x4 could not stop for ‘operational reasons and force protocol’.

It said the force’s insurers were in discussions about the matter, which involved a police vehicle driven by a sergeant.

Mum-of-two Gill swapped insurance details with officers in the second 4x4, and also provided dashcam footage of the collision.

She was returning home to Bartley Green from work when the collision took place.

“I’d indicated and moved over into the middle lane,” she said. “On my dashcam you see the 4x4 in the right hand lane, see its wheels turn and they’ve caught me from the back end of my bumper.

“They stopped and I wound down my window and indicated for them to pull over. But as I pulled over, the 4x4 just drove off.

“Then another 4x4 with police blue lights pulled over and I shouted ‘He’s driven off!’ They said ‘No, they’re with us. Can you go round the corner?’”

She says the officer then explained: “There’s a Royal on board, they’re not allowed to stop.”

Gill recalls: “I asked ‘Who’s on board?’ but he said ‘I’m not obliged to say.’ They took pictures of my car and said it was a police matter now.”

Gill was kept at the scene for two hours after being told traffic officers had been called. She says she was warned she might have to be breathalysed – but no breath test kit could be located for an hour.

The receptionist claimed problems began when her insurer, Tesco, contacted West Midlands Police about the incident.

(Image: Birmingham Mail)

The force is currently in discussions with Tesco, but Gill said cops were denying liability.

“The police are saying it’s all my fault,” says Gill. “But the dashcam footage shows I’ve clearly got into the lane and they have hit me.

“It’s like they’ve put all the blame on me and they’ve got solicitors involved. It looks like it’s going to court because the police don’t want to know.”

Gill said she was never given details of the driver who hit her car, just the address of West Midlands Police’s HQ at Lloyd House.

“My insurance company asked ‘Did you get the driver’s name?’,” she says. “And I said ‘They didn’t stop!’

“The dashcam footage clearly shows I’d gone into the lane and my dashcam catches their wheels turning. They hit me, I didn’t hit them.

“To be honest, there wasn’t a huge amount of damage done to the car and it was still driveable. So why are they denying they did it? They clearly did. Tesco has said it is going to have to take legal action against the police’s insurance company.”

A West Midlands Police spokesman confirmed one of its vehicles “was involved in a collision with a third party vehicle during a police operation, resulting in damage to both vehicles as they travelled along a three-lane carriageway.

“Due to operational reasons and force protocol, the vehicle did not stop, but another vehicle in convoy behind the damaged car did stop, and details were exchanged with the third party for insurance purposes.

"A report has been completed by the driver, a police sergeant, and is with the force’s insurers for assessment.”

A Tesco Bank spokesman said: “We know being involved in an accident can be a stressful experience, which is why we do everything possible to help our customers.

"As is standard practice across the industry, when we are unable to reach a resolution with the insurer of the third party, we take the case to litigation, which in this case is the insurer of the police vehicle.”