Police are hunting for the driver of a car which crashed in Dorchester. Cannabis was seized from the abandoned vehicle.

A car collided with a telegraph pole in Herringston Road on Saturday morning.

The driver was not at the scene when police arrived and enquiries are ongoing to trace them.

Dorset Police was made aware of the collision at 8.30am but it may have happened sometime earlier.

Police tape has been put up across Herringston Road and police vehicles were at the scene earlier.

The cordon covers an area of three of four properties.

A diversion is in place for motorists.

A telegraph pole in the road has been damaged, pictured below, and some wires can be seen hanging down.

An inspection is being made to check the pole is safe.

Dorset Echo:

It has now been confirmed by police that the pole was damaged after being hit by a vehicle.

As of 1pm today, police were no longer at the scene but the cordon preventing vehicles from proceeding down the road was still in place.

Posting on social media earlier, Dorchester police said: "Herringston Road, Dorchester will be closed for the foreseeable future today.

"Please consider using a different route."

A Dorset Police spokesman said: At 8.30am on Saturday 13 July 2019 Dorset Police received a report of a road traffic collision on Herrington Road in Dorchester.

"A grey BMW had collided with a telephone pole.

"The road was closed at the scene to enable the recovery of the vehicle and repair of the pole.

"There were no reported injuries and enquiries into the circumstances of the collision are ongoing."

Police said no arrests had been made and officers had spoken to the registered keeper of the vehicle.

In an updated statement later, a police spokesman said: "The collision was reported by a third party and might have happened a little while before police received the report.

"There was nobody with the car when officers attended the scene. Enquiries are ongoing in relation to the driver of the vehicle.

"A substance has been seized from the vehicle, which is suspected to be cannabis."

Residents told of how they have been left without phone lines and internet until the pole is replaced.

"I was in my bed at the time," said one resident, "I think many of the residents in the street heard it.

"Some time later the police took the car away. We have no internet and no phone, I think it’s affected about half a dozen homes along here."

Another resident said: "When I heard it I thought something had fallen off my roof so I looked out the window and saw the car. The driver wasn’t there but there were bits of the car all over the place down the road.

"It’s taken away our email and telephones. They saw it will be replaced next week. I am hoping for Monday but it will probably be Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

"They were very efficient at getting the pole down and a gentleman came round to explain what they were doing and was very nice."

We’ve seen reports that @dorsetpolice have closed Herringston Road today. If you are visiting our inpatient unit you can access it via Winterborne Herringston or the diversion via Mellstock Avenue pic.twitter.com/GWssDKNNez