Plague of underage drivers (Updated)

Police on Wednesday said they had caught three different underage drivers in Troodos and Paphos in just one day.

Officers early in the day discovered that a 14-year-old boy was behind the wheel of a rented car that crashed into a ditch in Chlorakas after evading officers who had signalled the driver to stop.

The accident occurred just after midnight, police said, when the 14-year-old driver failed to pull over when signalled by officers, sped off and entered a road that was under construction and fell into a ditch.

Officers were surprised to find out that the driver of the car was a 14-year-old Paphos resident. He was not injured by the accident. The boy was taken by the officers to his home.

The car he was driving, had been rented by a 34-year-old man who said that the boy took the keys without his consent.

The boy had put his life in great danger, police said.

At around 11.30am the Troodos police stopped a car on the Karvounas to Troodos road driven by a 15-year-old boy with a 17-year-old boy as passenger. The car had been reported stolen on Tuesday in Limassol, police said.

In the possession of the 15-year-old, police located a quantity of cannabis and €229 in cash.

The two teenagers were arrested.

Later in the same day, at around 1.30pm, police were alerted that a 14-year-old boy was seen driving a car in a Paphos area. The boy, along with his father, were charged.

Another such incident was reported earlier this week.

On Monday afternoon, a stolen car driven by a 13-year-old boy crashed on the Larnaca to Limassol motorway, slightly injuring the teenage driver.

The car which went off the road and crashed near Moni at 4.30pm had been reported stolen earlier in the day.

The teenager was taken to Limassol general hospital where he was treated and released.