A mechanic who led police on a late-night chase around the a Harrogate suburb after a six-hour drinking session was banned from driving for 40 months yesterday.

Caroline Midgley, prosecuting, told town magistrates how a police patrol in Crab Lane, Bilton, heard a screech of tyres and saw an Audi 80 driving away fast, swerving from side to side as it headed for Bilton Lane.

Police set off after the Audi, which was being driven without lights, at 11.15pm, on June 14, by David Robert Haw. The car was found at the rear of the house where Haw, 36, was living with his parents.

Haw's father answered the door and denied his son was in but officers found him on a settee, under the influence of drink. Haw became abusive but denied he was the driver, claiming two friends had keys.

Haw pleaded guilty to refusing a breath test, failing to stop for police and refusing to give details of who was driving the car.

In mitigation, Geoffrey Rogers said Haw, who had been banned for 18 months in 1999 for drink-driving, had panicked and behaved stupidly. Haw, of Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, was banned for 40 months, and fined £450 with £55 costs.