The AA has urged police to issue new advice to drivers after carjackers posed as traffic officers in a bid to steal a sports car.

It says motorists - especially lone women - should no longer be required to pull over for the police if they suspect they have been targeted by bogus officers.

A pair of carjackers dressed in police uniform and body armour forced a Subaru Impreza to pull over in Horwich by putting a blue flashing light on the dashboard of an unmarked Audi A3 and sounding a siren.

The four men in the Impreza were told to hand over the keys. But their victims became suspicious of the uniform, which had no police crest, asked to see identification and the carjackers abandoned their attempt.

A spokeswoman for GMP said any driver who is pulled over by the police should stop their car immediately.

However, if they suspected they were being stopped by bogus officers they are advised to remain in their car and keep the doors locked, and then challenge the officers to show their warrant card through the window.

This advice has now been called into question by the AA Motoring Trust and a top Manchester lawyer.

Pursuit

An AA spokesman admitted the fact carjackers were posing as cops was a "new twist" and said lone female motorists should be advised to drive to a police station, by which time thieves would have abandoned their pursuit.

He added that where motorists believed the officers were not genuine they should not feel obliged to stop.

He said: "The police don't want to be in a situation where motorists speed off from bona fide police officers.

"I sympathise with the police. They are caught between a rock and hard place but they have to understand that female motorists may react to that situation. I would hope that the police could refine their views and give a better steer to vulnerable drivers."

Franklin Sinclair, of Manchester-based Tuckers solicitors, said motorists who honestly believed they were the victims of bogus cops could mount a strong defence in court if charged with trying to evade genuine officers.

He said: " It's a very difficult decision to make if you are going to drive off from somebody who may well be a police officer. If you have been stopped legitimately, driving off makes things a lot worse. You could be committing a further offence.

"However, if you think you have been stopped for nothing you would be better off driving somewhere where there are other people rather than not stopping at all."

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