A dangerous driver crashed into a car, a pedestrian and a pipe carrying flammable gas causing a 'major incident', a court has heard.

Ashley Ceesay fled from the scene of all of these incidents over the course of a police pursuit lasting for around two minutes last year.

He came to the attention of a police patrol on Wigan Road but when the two officers switched on their sirens he set off at a speed of more than 20mph over the speed limit rather than stopping.

Ceesay, 32, took the police pursuit onto St Helens Road, where he crashed into a car, and onto the junction of Derby Street and Emblem Street, where he crashed into a pedestrian and a pipe.

The flow of flammable gas caused a 'major incident' attended by emergency services who shut down the street while those involved in the crashes received treatment at Royal Bolton Hospital.

Ceesay fled from the scene but he handed himself in to be charged with driving dangerously, driving while uninsured and unlicensed and failing to stop.

He admitted all of the charges and appeared at Bolton Crown Court to be sentenced for them this week.

The prosecution, Craig McGregor, revealed he was on bail for other offences at the time of the car chase.

The Bolton News:

Mr McGregor said: "This is the first driving offence but there is a large number of breaches on the record. 

"One month after the incident the defendant was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison for theft from a person."

In mitigation, Alex Beevers said the defendant accepted the need for a prison sentence and was "ashamed".

He appealed for the prison sentence to be as short as possible for the sake of his partner and three children.

Mr Beevers said: "His partner works at Royal Bolton Hospital Monday to Friday and his mother works at Royal Bolton Hospital on similar hours. 

"It is going to cause difficulties to the family when Mr Ceesay is sent to prison."

Ceesay, of Hawthorne Road, was sentenced to 14 months in prison.

He received a driving disqualification for two years upon his release.

Recorder Nick Flanagan said: "The concern was you would cause an accident and, sadly, it became a reality because you crashed into a car and despite the collision you continued to drive dangerously. 

"You showed a complete disregard and many more people could have been injured."

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.