Nottinghamshire Police officers followed a driver from Ranby to Newark, before it exited onto the A17 towards Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

Dramatic dashcam and body-worn camera footage show the specialist skills and tactics used by the Roads Policing Unit to safely bring a dangerous driver to a stop before anyone was hurt.

Nottinghamshire Police officers in marked and unmarked vehicles formed a plan as they discretely followed a white Audi A3 along the A1 southbound, from Ranby to Newark, before it exited onto the A17 towards Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

Information suggested the Audi driver was a non-licence holder who had failed to stop for police elsewhere in the country a few days before.

Officers deployed a stinger device on the A17 Sleaford Road, which the driver tried to avoid, but it had the desired effect and punctured his nearside tyre.

However, despite officers activating their lights and sirens, the driver failed to stop. He increased his speed, reaching up to 93mph, recklessly overtook vehicles, and drove head-on towards oncoming traffic, forcing other motorists to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

After about a minute, the Audi’s tyre began to shred and it slowed to a speed of 30mph.

The roads policing unit now had three tactical pursuit and containment vehicles in formation to perform a box tactic on the Audi to bring it to a stop.

One car was positioned in front of the Audi, with a second placed to its right side, and the third behind it.

As the officers started to tighten their box around the Audi, the driver showed his intent to evade capture by driving onto the grass verge and repeatedly tried to get past the police car in front.

However, the officer positioned his car to prevent this. The driver was eventually stopped when he collided with the back of the car and drove into a shallow ditch. Within seconds he was safely detained and arrested.

Timothy Hart, aged 48, of Alexandra Road, Spalding, Lincolnshire, was subsequently charged in relation to the incident which happened on the afternoon of Monday 12 August.

Hart went on to plead guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving without insurance, and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.

He was given a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and banned from driving for 12 months when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on Tuesday 13 August.

PC Marcus Smallman, of the roads policing unit, said: “By driving in such a dangerous manner Hart not only put his own safety at risk but he also risked the safety of innocent members of the public who were travelling along these roads at the time and the safety of all the officers who were involved in this pursuit.

“At one point his appalling driving caused an oncoming driver to have to straddle the grass verge and moments later another motorist had to come to a near stop to avoid a collision.”

Sergeant Steve Waft, of the roads policing unit, added: “This was excellent work by all officers concerned who used tactics to bring this car to a controlled halt and ensure public safety.

"Our priority is keeping people safe and, as our work in this case shows, we will robustly deal with dangerous individuals like this who pose a serious risk to themselves and other members of the public.

“We will not tolerate people who break the law by driving vehicles in a manner that puts people at risk of serious injury or death and I am pleased to see Hart has now appeared in court and been sentenced for his actions.”