Police were forced to abandon a chase as a stolen car carrying three teenagers hit 120mph on the A47, a court heard.

The driver of the Astra refused to stop for police when clocked travelling at 120mph at Easton, near Norwich, and was reaching such dangerous speeds police could not maintain contact safely, Norwich Crown Court heard.

Ian James, prosecuting, said the stolen car, fitted with false number plates, caused other drivers to take evasive action and was driven at high speed through villages.

It topped 70mph through East Tuddenham, which has a 30mph limit.

Dramatic-high-speed-police-chase

He said: "It is a mark of the dangerous way in which that vehicle was being driven with obvious disregard to everyone's safety that police were unable to maintain contact and lost sight of the vehicle."

However in response to a radio alert, the car was later picked up by another police vehicle on the A1065 at Bodney.

Mr James said the stolen car again refused to stop and at Brandon the car veered down a track before coming to a stop.

Mr James said everyone got out and two 16-year-olds and Michael Wall, 20, who were all passengers in the car, were found in the area with the help of a police dog.

Wall, from Essex and the two youths, who cannot be named, all admitted aggravated vehicle taking on January 2, 2020.

Sentencing them, Judge Maureen Bacon said the car had been driven at extraordinary speeds and the pursuit had stretched over a long distance.

She said: "It was a very great mercy that there was no collision and that no one was hurt."

Wall was given a 12-month community order and 150 hours unpaid work and the two youths were sent to the youth court for sentence.

They were all given a 12-month driving ban.

Andrew Horsell, for Wall, said that all three were passengers in the car and Wall was only 19 at the time of the offence.