A BROMSGROVE man who led police on a dangerous high speed chase has been jailed.

Gavin Patton hit speeds of up to 90mph in his BMW 3 series car as he was pursued by police who saw him go through a red traffic light in the early hours of September 7, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Alex Warren, prosecuting, said an officer in an unmarked car saw Patton, of Birmingham Road, Marlbrook, at about 2.30am in Worcester Road.

The court was shown footage taken by the on-board camera in the police car. It showed Patton failing to stop after the officer switched on his lights and siren and then speeding off along the A38 towards Junction 1 of the M42, reaching 90mph as he drove on the wrong side of the road and going the wrong way around a roundabout.

The 35-year-old veered off towards Catshill, still travelling at speeds of up to 50mph along Golden Cross Lane, Gibb Lane and Byron Way. He crashed into a parked car and the airbags in his BMW went off, Mr Warren said.

The car filled with smoke but he carried on driving until he crashed again in Meadow Lane and was arrested. He seemed to be drunk but he refused to give a specimen to police.

Patton admitted dangerous driving, failing to provide a specimen and driving with no licence or insurance.

Lee Egan, defending, said the roads were deserted at the time. Patton, he said, had a long record of 30 convictions for 81 offences, some of them related to driving, but he had recently been working and training regularly on building sites.

Judge Abbas Mithani, QC, said the footage showed Patton driving in an "appalling" manner.

"It is as bad a piece of dangerous driving as I have seen," he told Patton.

"There was a high risk of someone being killed or injured and it is very fortunate that no-one was."

He gave Patton a 12 month jail sentence for dangerous driving and two months to run concurrently for failing to provide a specimen.

He was banned from driving for a total of five years and his licence was endorsed with penalty points for having no licence or insurance.

He will also have to retake a driving test.