A FATHER-OF-THREE has been jailed for 12 months for trying to outrun the police in a four-mile-long chase along busy streets at double the speed limit.

Steven Sparkes accelerated away from a patrol car in an uninsured Volkswagen Passat, running two red lights and forcing a group of workmen to jump clear, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Sparkes, with previous convictions for dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking, fled the car after he crashed into a parked vehicle in Summerfield Road, Thorpe Edge.

He told police arresting him at the scene he panicked because he had no insurance, no licence or MoT certificate for the borrowed car.

Sparkes, 27, of Bridgegate Fold, Eccleshill, Bradford, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at 2pm on April 16.

Prosecutor Caroline Abraham said officers saw him make off at speed from a side street, drew alongside him and ordered him to stop.

But Sparkes reversed the car and drove away down Idle Road.

He jumped two red lights and narrowly avoided hitting oncoming vehicles in Bolton Road, before accelerating off at 63mph in a 30mph zone.

A group of workmen were forced to jump clear as Sparkes sped past them on to Rowantree Drive, where he was clocked doing 58mph.

Miss Abraham said he had a passenger in the car with him during the pursuit along busy streets and residential roads on housing estates.

The court heard that Sparkes served a six-month sentence in a young offender institution for dangerous driving in 2010. He had a previous conviction for driving without insurance and had fallen foul of the totting up provision.

His solicitor advocate, Ashok Khullar, said his client apologised to the police immediately and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He was the father of three young children and had showed genuine remorse.

Recorder Ben Nolan QC jailed Sparkes for a total of 12 months for dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving without a full licence and having no MoT certificate.

"The message must go out that those who drive through busy streets and housing estates while being pursued by the police will go to prison," Recorder Nolan told him.

Sparkes was also banned from driving for two-and-a-half years and until he passes an extended retest.