COUNTY NEWS: Dramatic video footage shows police pursue driver who dials 999 asking them to stop following him

Bruce Dewey, 36, a labourer of no fixed address was jailed for dangerous driving for 15 months,

He appeared at Chichester Crown Court last month where he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence and driving without third party insurance.

Police said that Dewey was driving a blue Honda Legend in Tarring Road on Monday, February 22 when he was spotted by police officers who knew him only to have a provisional licence.

He accelerated away as the police unit turned to follow him and was lost for a short while as the area was searched. The car was located in Exmoor Drive and requested to stop. It did not and was pursued along Salvington Road and then the A24, A283 and A27, according to police.

During this time, a police vehicle was damaged, putting it out of action, before the Dewey was brought to a halt in a tactical stop on the A27 at Sompting, damaging two more police cars in the process.

PC Peter De Silvo, from the Surrey and Sussex Roads Policing Unit, said: “Thankfully, nobody was injured in this incident, which was not conducted at high speed, but Dewey’s actions in trying to avoid police through a busy Monday evening rush hour could have had disastrous consequences.

“For nearly 50 minutes he refused to stop for police units, avoided stop sticks deployed to try and burst his tyres and at one point called 999 and asked us to stop following him.”

Dewey was also disqualified from driving for three years with a requirement to take an extended retest and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £100.

No separate penalties were imposed in respect of the licence and insurance offences.