A MAN stole a trailer before leading police on a dangerous chase before crashing into a gate and wading into a river to hide.

Dean Seymour stole the Ifor Williams trailer, belonging to the National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society and worth £1,200, in Droitwich, and attached it to a Nissan Navara.

Witnesses spotted him on the A442 and informed police who initially caught up with him before the 34-year-old “went off at speed” and officers lost track, said prosecutor Nicola Ritchie, last Thursday.

Seymour was then seen to detach the trailer at the side of the road and officers once again tracked him down, though “that was when the dangerous driving began”.

The defendant “accelerated hard” on the A417 and during the pursuit, at around 9pm on June 21 last year, was at one stage driving at 70mph in a 40mph zone on the A491.

Other drivers had to “slam on brakes” and “take drastic action” while Seymour overtook at speed and drove over roundabouts.

Ms Ritchie said at one point the defendant, who was heading towards Stourbridge, braked hard and his car started to “fish tail” before he was able to regain control.

The chase came to an end when he collided with a gate and fled the car, leaving a female passenger behind, and “waded into a river to evade police detection”.

The defendant, of Heath Green, Dudley, accepted charges of dangerous driving and theft when appearing at Worcester Magistrates Court.

District Judge Kevin Grego sent the case to Worcester Crown Court for sentencing on July 26.