A DRUNKEN disqualified driver who "stole" a bus and left a trail of destruction in his wake -- including 12 damaged cars -- has been jailed for 20 months.

Chey Dewitt was chased down a street by bus company staff after he drove off in the single-decker vehicle, which had been left with its engine running at the South Lancashire Buses depot in Chanters Industrial Estate, Atherton.

Dewitt, aged 22, of Leigh Road, Leigh, drove around the depot yard and crashed into trees and buses before he ploughed through a steel gate.

In the wrecking spree which followed, he:

Crashed into another bus;

Damaged 12 cars, knocking one 50 yards down the street;

Narrowly missed a paper boy and a woman moped rider;

Forced a 60-year-old cyclist to jump off his bike to escape injury.

A judge at Liverpool Crown Court was told that depot staff ran after the bus and others jumped into another vehicle to follow it as Dewitt drove off at 9.45am on June 19 last year.

The court heard that he drove the bus into Tyldesley Road and crashed into another single-decker bus. The driver leapt out of the bus, fearing for his safety and injured his back.

Kate Symms, prosecuting, said Dewitt then drove through roadworks towards Leigh.

He scraped the sides of two parked cars and knocked a third one 50 feet down the street into another parked car.

The bumped car then mounted the pavement and narrowly missed an 11-year-old newspaper boy, said Miss Symms.

Police followed the bus, which had lost its rear bumper and had several smashed windows, and signalled unsuccessfully for Dewitt to stop. The bus swerved all over the road and struck two more parked cars, shunting one into a lay-by.

Dewitt headed towards a woman moped rider at 40mph, swerving round her and missing her by a few inches. Smoke billowed from the tyres as he braked heavily, said Miss Symms.

While making a sharp left turn, he hit two more parked cars, drove on to a dirt track and hit two more vehicles again causing damage.

When he turned into Orchard Lane, his driving caused a 60-year-old cyclist to jump off his bike on to the grass verge and the bus then ran over his bike.

Miss Symms told the court: "The elderly gentlemen was extremely lucky as he was only inches from being crushed by the bus."

Dewitt then mounted the grass verge to his right and crashed into a ditch and hedgerow before he jumping out and running off. He was chased and arrested.

The court was told that Dewitt, who was one-and-a-half times over the drink-driving limit, had been banned from driving for two years in June last year.

Dewitt pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, disqualified driving, driving with excess alcohol and being in breach of bail. He also had an offence of taking a vehicle without consent taken into consideration.

Jailing him for 20 months, plus almost nine months outstanding from a previous sentence, Judge Bruce Macmillan, said: "You have a dreadful record for driving."

He also banned him from driving for 18 months.

John Chukwuemeka, defending, said: "The episode was due to drink and drugs for which he is remorseful. He is quite prepared to accept the consequences of his actions."