Three police officers have been cleared of lying about a car crash involving a marked car smashing into the side of a teenager's vehicle after running a red light.

Police Constables Max Michel, 28, and Shaun Charnock, 34, were responding to an emergency call when they drove into the driver's side of a car at a junction in west London.

Raj Mehra, who was 19 at the time and on his way from his home in Hounslow to his friend's restaurant in Hampton, had to be cut out of his VW Golf after the accident at about midday on December 4 2016.

He said he was left feeling "dizzy and heavy" by the crash, which saw his airbags "explode" and "sparks coming out".

Michel had driven the police vehicle along the Uxbridge Road in Feltham and through a red traffic light, with Charnock in the passenger seat.

Prosecutors claimed they had "put their heads together" to blame Mr Mehra for the collision, and were assisted by Police Constable Ryan Francis, 27, who attended the scene to report the crash.

Mr Mehra, who said he worked as an MOT tester at the time, was initially the one reported for suspected criminal offences, including driving without due care and attention and not having the appropriate insurance.

Francis was accused of supporting his colleagues by presenting a report in relation to the accident that resulted in the victim being wrongly blamed.

CCTV later recovered of the incident showed the police vehicle had moved forward through a red traffic light.

Mr Mehra said Michel had first asked him how he was, before becoming rude and shouting at him.

He added: "Before this incident I always respected the police. I thought of them as a protection for me. Since this has happened, that has changed."

In his evidence, Michel told the jury: "I never made anything up. I told everything as I 100 per cent believed it at the time I made my statement."

He had just over four years of active service at the time of the collision, as well as a period of time working as a special constable.

Michel said that since becoming a response driver in 2016 - allowing him to exceed speed limits and go through red lights - he had been driving with blue lights and sirens "more than once a shift".

He told the jury there would have been no consequences for him if he had been found to be at fault, and had no reason to lie about the accident.

"Police driving is very demanding and mistakes happen," he said.

The three officers were cleared by a jury at Southwark Crown Court after just over three hours of deliberations.

Charnock, from Caesars Camp Road in Camberley, Francis, from Hampton Crescent in Bracknell, Berkshire; and Michel, from Kingsnympton Park, Kingston, were all cleared of one count of doing acts intended to pervert the course of justice.