Video: Dangerous driver 'gambles with his life' in high-speed chase in Crawley

Police said the driver could have killed someone during the incident

Dash cam footage shows Colin Pollard in a high-speed chase with police last year (Sussex Police)

Police have released dramatic footage showing a dangerous driver “gambling with his life” as he is pursued in a high-speed chase, which reached up to 118mph.

The video, filmed on a police dash-cam at around 3:45am on 7 December last year, shows driver Colin Pollard, 29, speeding off in a silver Renault Laguna in Crawley, after officers in a marked patrol car signalled for him to stop.

Pollard, from East Grinstead, ignores the police car’s flashing blue lights, as he speeds up to 80mph in a 40mph area towards a roundabout.

As police chase after Pollard, he repeatedly drives on the wrong side of the road, including on three roundabouts, on a dual carriageway, and down a slip road.

And when Pollard approaches an area where a 30mph speed limit is enforced, he is seen accelerating to more than 90mph, before reaching 98mph in the 50mph area.

He then accelerates to 118mph before slowing down, at which point police are forced to stop him.

Pollard was jailed for a year after he admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and failing to stop for police when he appeared at Lewes Crown Court.

Chief Inspector Phil Nicholas, of Surrey and Sussex roads policing unit, said: “Pollard's driving put everyone else on the roads in danger.

"He was driving well above the speed limit, often on the wrong side of the road and if anyone had crossed his path there would have been a serious accident.

"The simple truth is that Pollard could have killed someone. He knew he shouldn't have been driving but didn't want to be arrested so instead gambled with his life and the lives of other drivers in the area.

"On this occasion he got away with only being jailed. On any other night he could have been killed."