A TEENAGER driving a car he had just bought sped off when he saw a police officer turn his car round to follow him.

Blackburn magistrates heard the officer decided it was safer not to instigate a full scale pursuit because it was midday on a Saturday and he didn’t want to put the public at risk.

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But he followed the car driven by Scott Stephen Lee and saw it skid round a corner at excessive speed. He was then told it had repeated the manoeuvre joining Bolton Avenue in Huncoat before pulling into Alder Grove.

The officer knew it was a cul-de-sac and drove in to stop the other car leaving.

But Lee mounted the pavement to get away. Sparks flew from his car as it left the ground as he crossed the level crossing in Huncoat and two women walking their dogs ran to get out of the way.

Andy Robinson, prosecuting, said Lee apologised to police for driving ‘like an idiot’.

“It was prolonged bad driving with disregard for the safety of others,” said Mr Robinson.

Lee, 19, of Bellfield Road, Accrington, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving without insurance or licence. He was committed on bail to Burnley Crown Court to be sentenced after the magistrates ruled their powers of punishment were insufficient.

Peter King, defending, said his client accepted he had seen the police car and was driving away from it. He said he had bought the car for £135 with the intention of selling it on and this was the first time he had driven it. “When he saw the police car he panicked,” said Mr King.