AN APPRENTICE plasterer who led police on a “horrendous” high speed chase drove on after a wheel flew off his car, a court heard.

Pursuing officers followed the scrape marks in the road to find Joshua Bridge’s badly damaged Vauxhall Corsa abandoned on Salts Mill Road, Shipley.

Bridge, 20, had continued to flee after losing a back wheel when he hit an oncoming car during the chase, between Guiseley and Bradford, prosecutor Paul Nicholson said yesterday.

His Corsa jumped after the collision and sparks flew as he drove off with the axle scraping along the road, Bradford Crown Court was told yesterday.

Bridge, of Brow Lane, Clayton, Bradford, admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident and driving uninsured and with no valid licence.

Judge Peter Benson, saying it was a “horrendous” piece of driving, sentenced Bridge to eight months detention in a young offenders’ institution, suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work.

Bridge was also banned from the road for 18 months and ordered to take an extended test if he wants his licence back. He must also pay £90 prosecution costs.