UNINSURED motorist Sean McNaughton, who led police on a high speed which ended when he piled into three parked cars, has been jailed for a year.

The 34-year-old sped away from officers after they pulled over his BMW 323i on Rowden Hill, Chippenham, at about 6pm on Saturday, January 3.

While he initially stopped for the marked patrol car he then shot away, doing 45mph in the 30mph residential area.

He overtook in the face of oncoming traffic and then undertook cars at The Pheasant roundabout before heading off west on Bath Road.

Another officer picked up the chase on the A4 through Corsham where he was going 60mph in a 30mph zone and going the wrong way round the Hare and Hounds roundabout.

The driver then lost control of the vehicle trying to negotiate a left hand bend on Bradford Road, causing the car to smash into three stationary vehicles and a wall.

McNaughton, of Macaulay Square, Calne, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and no insurance.

Ronan McCann, defending, told Swindon Crown Court his client is a father-of-two who is qualified as a mechanic and landscaper and in the past ran his own business.

But he said he also suffered mental health problems and at the moment he was unemployed, leading to financial problems.

That is why he had no insurance, he said, though he ran up debts on drink and drugs as the family struggled on benefits of £1,100 a month.

Jailing him, Judge Tim Mousley QC said: "Mercifully you didn't harm anybody, that was probably by good luck rather than any judgement on your part, because your driving posed a danger to anyone who happened to be out and about on the roads that evening, and your driving went on for some distance."

As well as imposed a 12-month jail term he also banned him from the road for two years and until he has passed an extended test.