A MAN drove the wrong way up the motorway while trying to help a friend avoid the police.

Philip McIntyre, 27, took off on a reckless drive around Ellesmere Port, with officers in pursuit, after coming to the aid of a friend who was under observation.

McIntyre, of Tennyson Road, Ellesmere Port, admitted dangerous driving.

At Chester Crown Court, he was jailed for 10 months and banned from driving for three years.

Maria Masselis, prosecuting, said that on July 9 Ellesmere Port car crime unit saw a man, who they identified as Philip Pendergast, get out a stolen vehicle on Ashfield Road. He went into a house in the road, then left by its back door.

The court heard police pursued Pendergast on foot along Whitby Road and Westminster Bridge.

Miss Masselis said he then ran to a silver Ford Ka driven by McIntyre, and tried to jump into the car as it was moving.

The officer's right foot was run over as the car sped off towards the M53.

The PC noted part of the registration of the vehicle, which belonged to McIntyre's girlfriend. Police then saw it on Westminister Bridge and set off in pursuit.

McIntyre was seen overtaking three cars at speed on the single lane bridge and straddling the carriageway before he drove through a red light.

Police eventually lost sight of the car. It was only when McIntyre tried to leave the UK on July 14 that he was arrested at Manchester Airport.

McIntyre claimed to have been with his girlfriend at the time of the incident.

But the court heard records from his mobile phone confirmed he had, in fact, made calls to Pendergast around the time the police were pursuing him.

Brett Williamson, defending, said: 'This was a terrible bit of driving.'

Regarding the injuries to the PC, which amounted to ligament damage requiring a short time off work, he added: 'These are an aggravating feature.

'But it's not like he's driven at the officer - it's a by-product of his driving away.'

Judge Geoffrey Kilfoil told McIntyre: 'It was only by the grace of God that no serious accident occurred.'