A man caught in a police chase in which he drove a stolen car without a licence at 80mph on a residential road has been jailed for one year.

Anthony Connor of Viscount Road, Marsh Green, was chased by police when the stolen car was spotted in Breightmet on June 11.

Despite PC Greaves indicating to Connor to pull over, the driver did not comply and instead sped off to avoid being caught, Bolton Crown Court heard on Tuesday.

The chase which took place on Deepdale Road at 1am involved Connor driving on the wrong side of the road and passing through a red light.

Connor ran away from the vehicle after it collided with a lamppost but was eventually apprehended by a police dog.

The judge, Recorder Lazarus, told Connor that his driving may have caused serious injuries to others and it said that it was lucky that no pedestrians were around at that time of night.

He said: “You engaged in some exceptionally dangerous driving.”

The man from Wigan, who has only ever had a provisional driving licence, has been disqualified from driving since his first offence in 1992.

Before these new charges, Connor already had a total of 50 convictions for 118 offences including taking a vehicle without consent and driving a vehicle without being qualified.

The court also heard that Connor has a child who he has recently started seeing under supervised custody.

Connor paid £50 for the car which he knew was stolen by another man who he refused to name.

The red Vauxhall Corsa belonged to Ms Gerrard and was valued at £7,000.

Recorder Lazarus told Connor: “You have shown over the years a complete disregard for the law.”

Connor was convicted for handling stolen goods, dangerous driving and driving without a licence.

He received a sentence of 12 months imprisonment for dangerous driving of which he will spend six in custody.

Connor will serve three months concurrently for driving without a licence and two weeks concurrently for handling stolen goods.

He has also been disqualified from driving for a further three years.