A DRAMATIC manhunt was launched in Huntingdon after a criminal escaped from a prison van outside the town s court building. The police helicopter was scrambled to the skies above Huntingdon Law Courts in Walden Road (ring road) to help capture the escape

A DRAMATIC manhunt was launched in Huntingdon after a criminal escaped from a prison van outside the town's court building.

The police helicopter was scrambled to the skies above Huntingdon Law Courts in Walden Road (ring road) to help capture the escapee.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire police said a 21-year-old male "escaped" from a prison van at about 4.18pm on Wednesday (February 17).

The man had earlier appeared in court and been handed a five-month prison sentence. He then made a run for it after being escorted to a prison van waiting outside the court.

Officers in patrol cars gave chase, tracking the man down at 4.43pm nearly two miles away in Hall Close, Hartford, close to the village hall.