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'His tyres are disintegrating...' WATCH the dramatic moment a fast food worker was arrested after 85mph police chase

A banned driver who led police on a terrifying 25-minute chase, hitting speeds of 85mph in a 30mph zone and driving on the wrong side of the road, has been locked up.

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Dilip Patel hurtled through Wolverhampton, Wednesfield, Willenhall and Essington before being arrested while hiding in bushes in Featherstone.

It came just four years after he was jailed for an almost carbon-copy offence - a high-speed police chase after crashing into a mother and her two young children while over the drink-drive limit.

Patel, of Cannock Road, Park Village, Wolverhampton, carried out his latest crime in the early hours of May 26.

Jailed - Patel

The 30-year-old tearaway careered over speed bumps and went round traffic islands in the wrong direction at the wheel of a black Peugeot 306 after failing to stop for police in Stubby Lane, Wednesfield, at 2am.

Mr Robert Edwards, prosecuting at Wolverhampton Crown Court, said Patel also accelerated over a crossroads without stopping and went in the wrong direction down a one-way street into Willenhall town centre at 45mph before the pursuit swept towards Essington.

At one stage, the Peugeot was driven on the wrong side of the road, overtook a lorry at 65mph and went through red lights before speeding down Essington Road at 90mph, where the limit is 50mph, and swerving from side to side along country lanes to stop police from boxing in the car.

A stinger designed to puncture the tyres was deployed in Northycote Lane but Patel continued until the front tyres disintegrated in Brookhouse Lane, Featherstone.

The fast food worker then made a run for it and concealed himself in bushes until a police helicopter helped officers uncover his hiding place.

The end of the high-speed chase was captured on CCTV filmed both from the dashboard camera of a pursuing police car and the helicopter.

It shows the disintegration of the tyres and smoke coming from the Peugeot as it came to a halt before Patel darts into the neighbouring field in an escape bid doomed to failure because the heat-seeking camera of helicopter tracked his every move until he was detained.

Patel is arrested by officers after hiding in bushes in Featherstone

Patel pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, failing to stop, having no insurance and possession of cannabis.

He was jailed for 18 months and banned from driving for four years by Judge Martin Walsh.

The judge told him: "You have a poor record of motoring offences and this was an appalling piece of driving.

"You declined to stop for police and was involved in a protracted pursuit during which you travelled at 85mph in a 30mph limit."

Sgt Matt Cooper said he was pleased justice had been done.

He said: "The high speed chase may have happened at a time when most people would have been tucked up in bed, but that does not make it any less reckless.

"This is a great sentence following some very stupid decisions made by Mr Patel, which could have ended quite differently."

This chase came four years after Patel was involved in a very similar police pursuit during which he sped through Wednesfield and Wolverhampton city centre before crashing into a car containing a mother and her two young children at Showell Road, Bushbury.

This happened on October 9, 2010. The mother suffered an eye injury while her son received bruising and complained of chest pain.

On that occasion, Patel reached 90mph on Wednesfield Way in a hired Renault Clio while over the drink-drive limit and unsuccessfully tried to run away from the scene of the accident.

The chase had started when he failed to stop after being spotted by police speeding during the early hours of the morning on Stafford Road. A test revealed 58 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

He even received an identical punishment for the offence - an 18-month jail term - when sentenced the following year.

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