A man who drove at 104mph during a police chase before officers punctured his tyres with stingers, has been jailed for ten months.

Michael Hayes, 27, of Burch Road, Northfleet, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court last month after he pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, failing to provide a breath specimen and failing to provide a blood specimen.

A judge heard how Hayes - who had been disqualified from driving previously - had been seen by police driving at 80mph on the A2 at Cobham, on January 16 at around 11.50pm.

He then crossed two lanes to take a last-second turn to leave the road at the Cobham junction, before returning to A2, then repeated the manoeuvre at another junction, taking a sharp right turn and crossing solid white lines and chevrons to stay on the A2.

It was then that officers illuminated their blue lights and sirens in an attempt to get Hayes to stop, but he sped off reaching speeds of up to 104mph on the M2.

During the chase he drove through a red light on the A2045, and also drove on the wrong side of the road and continued to drive through heavily populated areas at excess speed.

He was only caught when officers used a stinger to puncture the tyres, and Hayes was subsequently arrested in Corporation Street, Rochester.

He was given a drink and drugs test at the side of the road which showed he was over the drink-drive limit and was also shown to have cocaine in his system.

He was taken to Medway Station where he then failed to provide the required samples for analysis.

Hayes was further sentenced to eight weeks in prison on March 5 in connection with an incident in Wrotham Road, Gravesend, on 12 December, when an officer stopped him after observing his driving and arrested him for driving while disqualified and without insurance.

Investigating officer PC Paul Dearing of the Roads Policing Unit said: "Hayes showed no regard for the safety of other road users when he was being pursued by officers and instead of stopping right away he put the lives of other motorists and pedestrians in danger and it was only sheer luck that nobody else was injured.

"The fact that he was also sentenced for a separate offence which he had committed prior to this pursuit reinforces his disrespect for the law and I hope his sentence sends a clear message to others."