A DRUG driver drove dangerously as he fled officers in his girlfriend's car, sparking a police chase.

Cameron Spencer of The Coppice, Northfield, admitted dangerous driving, drug driving, driving without insurance and possession of cannabis when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old sped away from police in his girlfriend's Fiat Punto when officers tried to stop him to check whether he was insured to drive her car at 12.40am on August 26.

His decision to flee the police led to a chase through residential streets which lasted around five minutes and covered a distance of three miles.

Paul Whitfield, prosecuting, said officers spotted Spencer behind the wheel on the A38 in Bristol Road, Rubery.

But when they activated their blue lights and sirens he drove away, accelerating to 45mph in a 30mph road in New Street.

He entered Holly Hill Road, performing 'several last-minute turns' without indicating and had difficulty controlling the vehicle.

Spencer performed a circuit and ended up back on Holly Hill Road where he continued speeding between parked cars, failing to give way to a white van at the next traffic light junction.

He headed back towards New Street on the wrong side of the road and lost control of the car as he made a tight turn, striking a kerb and coming to a stop.

When officers arrested him they found he was in possession of cannabis consistent with personal use.

A blood sample revealed 6.6µg/L of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinol, a breakdown product indicating someone has smoked cannabis.

This reading is more than three times the drug drive limit of 2µg/L.

Mr Whitfield said: "He said it was his girlfriend's car and he knew what he was doing was wrong. Through the course of his interview he showed remorse and became quite upset at one point.

"There was substantial risk to other road-users. It was early in the morning but there were other road-users about."

He said Spencer had ignored speed limits and road signs though there had been no crash and no injuries.

Spencer was also convicted of drug driving on November 11, 2015 and banned from driving for 12 months.

William Dudley, defending, said: "Perhaps it could be summarised as not the very worst of this type of offending. Clearly speeding was involved but not perhaps grossly excessive speed."

Mr Dudley said Spencer could scarcely have been more frank in police interview and had shown 'genuine remorse for his stupidity' and had suffered personal tragedies over the last two years, asking the judge's forgiveness for not airing them in public.

He also said his client would be 'prone to bullying' if he was jailed.

Mr Dudley also revealed that Spencer's partner was 23 weeks pregnant with his child and that he was waiting on her 'hand and foot'.

"This was a reasonably short-lived moment of stupidity," he told the court.

Judge Nicolas Cartwright, sentencing, said that for Spencer to admit the offences in police interview showed 'genuine remorse'.

He said: "Instead of turning off the ignition and facing up to your responsibility you put your foot down and tried to lose the police."

Judge Cartwright also said there had been a risk to pedestrians stepping out from behind parked cars with 'the potential for serious injury or worse'.

However, he accepted that drug-drive limits could not be equated with the level of impairment in drink-drivers.

Judge Cartwright ordered Spencer to be detained for six months in a young-offender institution.

He said: "This should enable you to be at liberty by the time your girlfriend is due to give birth."

He also banned Spencer from driving for three years, extending the ban by a further three months so that it will take effect at around the same time Spencer leaves custody after serving half his sentence.

He must also complete an extended driving retest.