A DRINK driver who led police on a late night chase around Old Town after moving his Range Rover from a disabled parking bay has been jailed.

Lewis Page, who was more than twice the limit, had only just got his licence back after completing an extended test ordered after a similar incident two years ago.

And the 22-year-old nearly got tasered as he tried to make a run for it after failing to get away from the following patrol just after 1am on Saturday, June 7.

Colin Meeke, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how police on Wood Street had spotted the large vehicle without its lights on and the driver not wearing a seatbelt.

As Page turned on to Devizes Road officers in a car parked at the junction followed on to Springfield Road and then Quarry Road, where he stopped.

“Police got out to speak to the driver. With that it took off at speed, clearly faster than the speed limit. That part of Old Town is quite densely built up,” Mr Meeke said.

The Range Rover went across Bath Road on to Eastcott Road where he ignored a ‘no entry’ sign as he drove along King William Street. He then continued on Prospect Street and over Victoria Road on to Union Row and straight on to Church Road.

Realising there was a barrier at the end of the last road, officers in another patrol car on Cricklade Street got out, anticipating him making a dash for it on foot. As they chased they were about to use their tasers on him but when he saw the red light on him he slowed down, letting them grab him.

He told officers he had ‘driven like a p***k’, and at the police station he was found to have 93mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

He said he had been out that night and was moving the vehicle from a disabled parking space so he wouldn’t get a ticket.

Page, of Langford Grove, Old Walcot, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol. The court heard he was convicted of identical offences in 2012 when he touched 90mph as he raced away from police while over the limit.

Rob Ross, defending, said his client had got his licence back in February after taking an extended retest.

“He is, by his own admission, someone who had no need to do this. He panicked,” he said.

Jailing him for a year, Judge Tim Mousley QC said: “At about 1.10am you went driving with no lights, pursued by police with their blue lights and sirens going.

“It was a significant distance involving you going through a no entry sign. When stopped by police you ran off. We have to go back two years, May 2012; in this court for the offences of dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol, you were made subject to a suspended sentence.”

He pointed out he failed on that and served the time inside as he imposed a new jail term and banned him from the road for three years and until an extended test is passed.