A young driver led police on a chase around Dartford reaching speeds of 80mph in an incident described by his solicitor as like something from a TV programme.

Motorists had to take evasive action as Ryan Sanzone swerved onto the wrong side of the road, hitting other cars, including an Aston Martin.

Sanzone, 25, was at the wheel of a red VW Golf in Hawley Road, and when police began to follow it he sped off with the officers then in full pursuit, a court heard.

Sanzone, of Mangold Way, Erith, overtook other vehicles, increased his speed to 60mph in a 40mph zone, including residential areas.

Despite the collision, Sanzone continued to try and get away from police and reached speeds of at least 80mph in other streets and even tried to squeeze the car in the middle of queueing vehicles at traffic lights, but collided with two other cars.

As he reached high speeds and hit speed bumps in one road the car lost its bumper and officers followed him to Princes Road and other roads in the town.

Sanzone then drove the damaged vehicle to a dead-end street before jumping out and running before being caught and detained by officers. He was charged with dangerous driving and admitted the offence when he appeared before magistrates in Medway.

James Nichols, prosecuting, said: “It was prolonged bad driving and a lengthy police chase.”

Matthew Coxall, defending, added: “He is incredibly ashamed at the poor manner of his driving and I have seen the video footage of it and I must say its one of the worse I’ve seen and it could easily be a scene used on one of those Police, Camera, Action programmes.”

Magistrates decided to send the case to Maidstone Crown Court for sentencing and ordered a pre-sentencing report be carried out on Sanzone.

A date for his hearing is yet to be set and the bench also placed an interim driving ban on Sanzone until then.