A BABY has undergone surgery for serious head injuries after his family’s car was in a smash with a police car responding to an emergency call.

Little nine-month-old Sahil Saleem is in Leeds General Infirmary after emergency surgery over the weekend.

And his mother Hajra was also badly hurt in the incident at the junction of Birkby Hall Road and Grimscar Avenue, Birkby, at 8.15 on Friday night.

The incident put seven people in hospital.

Sahil’s twin brother Hashim, older brother Harris, seven, and father Irfan were treated at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for minor injuries and were allowed back home to Birkby.

The two police officers in the incident were also taken to hospital for treatment to minor injuries.

But Sahil and his mum, who were both transferred to Leeds from Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, remained in hospital last night.

Now two major inquiries into the accident are under way.

One is being conducted by West Yorkshire Police while the other is in the hands of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Irfan’s brother Imran Saleem told the Examiner the family are very worried about Sahil who underwent head surgery at Leeds General Infirmary on Saturday.

The solicitor said: “One of the babies has got a skull fracture and has had to have head surgery.

“Hajra was also injured – she cannot move her arm and cannot sit up in bed yet.”

Imran said Hajra, who is in her 30s, and her son Sahil’s injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

He told how his brother Irfan was driving his young family home just a short distance after visiting his sister who lives down the road.

It was then that their BMW was in the dramatic smash with the police vehicle, a Volvo estate, which was answering a 999 call.

On impact the BMW was thrust into a parked VW Polo and into a wall.

Huddersfield firefighters had to cut the roof off the family’s car to get Hashim out quickly.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said the police’s Professional Standards Department has been made aware and the incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Zamir Saleem, who owns nearby Zam’s convenience store and newsagents with husband Mohammed, told the Examiner they had witnessed many crashes at the same junction.

She said: “It’s a blind corner and there should be traffic lights there.

“Many times people don’t even stop to look and the traffic comes too fast from Grimescar Road.

“In the years that we’ve been here we’ve seen quite a lot of accidents happening and they should definitely install traffic lights.”

Anyone with information about the accident is asked to contact the West Yorkshire Police Major Collision Enquiry Team on 101.

The IPCC investigates the most serious complaints and allegations of misconduct against the police in England and Wales, as well as handling appeals from people who are not satisfied with the way police have dealt with their complaint.

The IPCC makes its decisions entirely independently of the police, government and complainants.