A JUDGE branded this piece of driving “appalling” as he jailed two men for a high-speed chase which he said could have turned a sunny spring afternoon into tragedy.

Banned driver Wayne Rogan tried to outrun police on narrow village streets as he hurtled down the wrong side of roads and raced over a playing field.

The eight-minute drama – in which he twice rammed a pursuing police car – came to an end when Rogan, 27, crashed into a garage and caused almost £4,000 damage.

Extensive damage was also caused to the stolen Nissan Qashqai and the police vehicle – which had to give up the chase as smoke poured out from under the bonnet.

Video footage from the pursuing car was shown to Judge Peter Armstrong as Rogan and passenger Jonathan Robson, 23, appeared in the dock at Teesside Crown Court.

The judge told the pair: “It was appalling driving. Fortunately for you, the police officer wasn't injured otherwise the sentences would have been much longer.

“Fortunately, it was a quiet afternoon, but from the view that anyone would have of that chase, if any child, for example, had come out, they could have lost their life.”

Rogan, of Heortnesse Road, Hartlepool, was jailed for 18 months after he admitted dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking and driving while disqualified.

Robson, of Lime Crescent, Hartlepool, was locked up for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to allowing himself to be carried in a taken vehicle and burglary.

The court heard that Robson reached into a house in nearby Jowett Road and took the keys to the Motability vehicle on the afternoon of Sunday April 8 this year.

His barrister, Richard Herrmann, said he “could never have anticipated the nature of the driving” when he got in the car, but said Robson been “incredibly foolish”.

Jim Withyman, for Rogan, said: “He has a bad record and has been in and out of custody. In some ways, it could be described as a revolving door for him.

“For the first time, he has realised if he doesn't change his behaviour at the age of 27 he is going to spend the rest of his life sitting in a prison cell.”

After the car was taken in Hartlepool, it was spotted by police in nearby Blackhall Rocks and followed into Blackhall Colliery where it narrowly missed other vehicles.

Prosecutor Emma Atkinson said Rogan – who was also banned from the roads for 20 months – went the wrong way and sped through traffic-calming measures.