POLICE were shocked to find that a driver who had led them on an 80mph car chase before crashing through a hedge was a double amputee.

Officers were even more stunned when they discovered just how Robert Bate had managed to outrun them in his battered K-reg Vauxhall Astra, a court was told.

For the 27-year-old had strapped two broom shanks to his wrists with duct tape to be able to use the accelerator and brake pedals on his automatic motor, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Bate, of Seventh Street, Blackhall, County Durham, admitted dangerous driving, driving under the influence of drugs, driving without insurance and without a licence.

Jailing him for a year, Judge David Hodson said: "This was a vehicle you had because of your disability in a Heath Robinson sort of way adapted to enable you to drive.

"It was a miracle that there was nobody injured."

The court heard that the chase started after they spotted Bate driving on the B1285 at Hawthorn, near Peterlee. The car, also containing two passengers, lost control at Murton.

* Read the full story and see more photos in The Northern Echo tomorrow