A BANNED driver has been jailed following a police chase through York which saw him veer into oncoming traffic.

Tyrone Savory, 24, of Union Terrace, was pulling out of a petrol station in the early hours of the morning when the Ford Transit van he was driving was spotted by officers in a marked BMW.

Noticing the van did not have its lights on, police pursued the vehicle down Boroughbridge Road into Poppleton.

The blue lights were switched on, but Savory - who was disqualified from driving, was uninsured and on a suspended prison sentence - took a sharp right-hand turn onto Station Road in Poppleton, York Crown Court heard.

With his lights still off he veered onto the right-hand side of the road into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

A catastrophe was narrowly averted when the van mounted a curb and drove along the pavement, Rob Galley told the court in prosecution.

“The defendant emerged, wearing all grey clothing, and ran towards (an address in) Station Road,” Mr Galley said.

An officer with a police dog chased Savory who climbed a high fence in a bid to escape.

He was caught and arrested.

Two passengers, a man and a woman, were found inside the van. They too were arrested but released without charge.

Savory admitted dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving while disqualified during the incident in the early hours of October 2. He also admitted failing to comply a suspended jail sentence by skipping unpaid-work sessions.

Mr Galley said Savory had previous convictions for offences including burglary, handling stolen goods, affray, driving matters and failing to surrender to bail.

In May he was given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, for running away from police after being stopped on suspicion of drink-driving.

On that occasion, Savory was riding a moped with a female passenger which was stopped by a police officer. As the female constable was dealing with the passenger, Savory fled but was arrested a few days later and charged with escaping lawful custody.

Savory’s solicitor Neil Cutte said the father-of-one, who has been working as a car valeter in Clifton Moor, could give no explanation for his latest motoring offence other than “panic” on being pursued by police.

Judge Paul Batty QC blasted Savory for trying to outrun police and told him: “For one so young, you are amassing quite a record.”

Savory was jailed for 18 months and given a three-year driving ban.