A man who was caught driving at 117mph on the M4 and then fled police has been banned from the roads for 12 months and ordered to take an extended re-test.

Dylan Roworth, 41, from Ware in Hertfordshire, appeared at St Alban’s Crown Court on January 15 for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to dangerous driving.

He was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and disqualified from driving for one year.

He is also required to take an extended driving test.

In the early hours of 3 September 2019, an officer on routine patrols of the motorway near Junction 16 recorded a Vauxhall Astra being driven at 117pm and swerving over the road.

The driver initially pulled over onto the hard shoulder when instructed to by the officer.

But, when police tried to safely lead him off the motorway, he drove up the slip road in the path of oncoming traffic and fled the scene.

Roworth was identified as the registered keeper of the vehicle and invited in for interview.

PC Alexandra Way, from Wiltshire Police’s roads policing unit, welcomed the sentence.

She said: “This was an example of incredibly dangerous driving; not only driving at excessive speed on the motorway and swerving between lanes, but then fleeing police by driving the wrong way up a slip road.

“It is a miracle that Roworth didn’t collide with anyone, causing serious injury or even death.”