POLICE were led on a low-speed chase on country lanes and across fields by a stolen tractor travelling at up to 30mph.

A helicopter was scrambled and patrol cars surrounded the tractor, but the driver continued to trundle on despite flashing blues lights, wailing sirens and calls from officers to stop.

Police drivers had to take evasive action when the driver refused to give himself up. The tractor veered off the road and took to the fields in a vain attempt to shake off pursuing officers.

The chase began at 4.30pm yesterday in Ferryhill, County Durham, reaching up to 30mph, before the driver abandoned the vehicle in Coldstream Woods, near Croxdale.

Sergeant Alan Read said: "He would have been very aware he was being followed by police.

"It might seem funny at first, but there was lot of traffic on the road and he might not have had much tractor driving experience.

"We were concerned that other road users might have been injured but, fortunately, none were.

"Because of the size of the vehicle, our normal procedure of surrounding the vehicle could not be used in case the cars were crushed and officers hurt.

"There was no way he could have got away. It is ridiculous really."

The New Holland 8360 tractor was stolen from Nunstainton Grange Farm, in Ferryhill, on Saturday.

Farm staff alerted police when they saw it in Kirk Merrington.

The tractor was driven from Ferryhill along the A167, turning right at the Thinford roundabout on to the A688, cutting across the field to Hett before going along the road to Sunderland Bridge then cutting across another field to Croxdale. The driver fled from the tractor and was tracked down by officers on foot.

The tractor's owner, Terry Watson, 48, said: "We are very pleased to get it back, but I do not know what was going through his mind in trying to escape on it.

"It is not the sort of vehicle I would recommend people to use as a getaway car."

A man in his late 20s from Kirk Merrington has been arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle.