DRAMATIC footage has been released showing the final moments of a high-speed police pursuit of a dangerous driver through St Helens town centre.

Danny Smith was sentenced to 14 months at a young offenders institute and disqualified from driving for three years at Liverpool Crown Court last week.

A video, released by Merseyside Police’s Roads Policing Unit, shows 20-year-old Smith tearing through the town centre, including Bickerstaffe Street, Cotham Street and King Street as he attempts to flee the police patrol cars in pursuit.

The Vauxhall Corsa he was behind the wheel of, ended up crashing into a Mercedes on North John Street.

Smith, of no fixed address but formerly of Ramford Street, Parr, was caught as he tried to flee the wreckage.

Witnesses to the chase on the morning Wednesday, October 11, likened it to a scene from the television show Dukes of Hazzard.

At the time police said officers had started following a vehicle on travelling on Rainford Road that was travelling in the direction of St Helens.

A police car was rammed at one point in the chase, which covered roads across the borough.