A DELIVERY driver who played a high-speed cat-and-mouse game with an unmarked police car down the M4 has been handed a three-year driving ban.

Brighton man Roger Noonan was rushing to make his next delivery as he sped down the M4 past Royal Wootton Bassett at 104 mph.

The 43-year-old’s grey Nissan Qashqai was spotted by a traffic officer driving an unmarked police car shortly before 3.40am on February 15.

The Nissan overtook the officer. Prosecuting, Nick Barr said: “In his opinion it was being driven well in excess of 70 miles per hour.”

The police officer sped up, matching the Qashqai’s speed and keeping around 100 metres behind it: “His speedometer showed a constant speed of 104mph.”

Noonan slowed down and the officer passed him by. A short while later, that police officer was passed once again by the Nissan, at which point the traffic cop put on his blue lights and indicated to Noonan to stop.

When the Brighton man wound down his window, the officer was said to have smelled cannabis. A drugs wipe showed positive for the class B drug. Asked if he had anything in the car the officer should know about, Noonan handed over a small brown square. “He says, ‘I have this hash,’” Mr Barr told the court.

Tests at the police station found he had the equivalent of 6.2 microgrammes of tetrahydrocannabinol in a litre of blood. The legal limit is two microgrammes.

Appearing before Swindon Magistrates' Court, Noonan, of Sandhurst Avenue, Brighton, pleaded guilty to speeding, drug driving and possession of herbal cannabis and cannabis resin. A charge he was over the limit for cocaine derivative benzoylecgonine was withdrawn by prosecutors.

Defending, Mark Glendenning, said his client had been working as a delivery driver at the time of the incident, making drops around the country.

“It’s the early hours, it’s an open road and, in his anxiety to get where he’s going, he’s exceeded the speed limit,” he said.

Noonan had fractured an ankle previously and was using cannabis as a form of self-medication.

Acknowledging his client had previous driving matters on his record, Mr Glendenning said: “Clearly, he is going to be disqualified. He askes you to keep it as short as possible.”

Magistrates fined Noonan £120 for the speeding offence and £160 for the cannabis possession. He was disqualified from driving for three years.

Jane Flew, chairman of the bench, admonished him: “You were going at a very significant distance above the speed limit.”