A BANNED driver who forced children to flee when he performed handbrake turns on a playing field has been jailed.

Shane Taylor, 25, stopped at a cul-de-sac near Lukes Lane, Hebburn, but drove off again with a policeman clinging to his open passenger door.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that after trying to shake off the officer, he aimed for a police sergeant who was trying to make him stop.

Neither of the two officers or children were injured during the incident in September.

And in October 2001, Taylor sparked a 50mph police chase in Jarrow after he drove in the dark with no lights.

Taylor, of Durham Grove, Jarrow, pleaded guilty to two charges of dangerous driving.

He was jailed for 33 months for the 2001 incident and 15 months for the incident in September, and banned from driving for three years.