A MAN has admitted ramming police cars during an early morning helicopter chase.

Ashley Melvin led officers on a pursuit through Appleton in the early hours, with the police helicopter called in to track him as he ran through residents’ gardens.

On Thursday, February 8, he admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance at Warrington Magistrates Court following the ‘short but dangerous pursuit’.

The court heard that police patrols spotted a Volkswagen Golf acting suspiciously on Ackers Road in Stockton Heath shortly before 4am on Wednesday, February 7.

Officers tailed the vehicle, on Chester Road and Lumb Brook Road before coming to a stop behind an unmarked police car at the traffic lights before the bridge.

When the marked BMW activated its lights, the unmarked car reversed in order to box Melvin in.

But he rammed the police cars to force his way through, damaging both vehicles.

The 29-year-old turned onto Bridge Lane before heading onto Dale Lane, travelling at around 60mph in a 30mph zone.

Melvin, of Dale Lane, ‘squeezed past’ parked cars and came close to contact with several vehicles.

He stopped the Golf on Dale Lane - with the vehicle then rolling backwards down a hill - and fled through the back gardens of properties on Bridge Lane.

But Melvin was arrested at around 5am after being located with the help of the police helicopter.

The court heard that he had previously been disqualified from driving in September 2015 after being convicted of dangerous driving.

Melvin will be sentenced at Chester Crown Court next month.

Meanwhile, 33-year-old Stephen Brookes, of Greenwood Crescent in Orford, has been charged with assaulting a police officer in connection with the incident.

He will appear at Warrington Magistrates Court next month and has been remanded in custody until that date.

No further action was taken against a 26-year-old woman from Manchester who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.