A DANGEROUS drink-driver who drove on the wrong side of the road during a police chase earlier told a traffic warden “I run this town”.

Burnley Crown Court heard how traffic warden Jack Gee saw a white Seat Leon owned by Omar Sharif parked on a single yellow line in Nelson at 11am on February 23.

Prosecutor Alistair Reid said as Mr Gee began to write a ticket 38-year-old Sharif came out of a nearby shop, became aggressive and told him to get away from his car.

Mr Reid said: “The defendant said ‘f*** off you white motherf*****. I run this town. I’ll do what I want’.

“Mr Gee gave a description of the culprit as being a short Asian male with two gold teeth. He saw the defendant swaying and slurring his words. He saw him enter the car and drink from a half empty bottle of vodka.”

Mr Reid said Mr Gee warned the defendant that if he drove away he would have to inform the police as he believed he was under the influence of alcohol.

Failing to listen to the warning Sharif drove off aggressively, spinning his wheels.

Mr Reid said the police were called and PC Ford saw the Seat on Walton Lane, with Sharif in the driver’s seat and a second man in the passenger seat.

The court heard when PC Ford turned on his car’s blue lights and sirens the Seat sped away along Marsden Hall Road, which has a maximum speed limit of 20mph, at 50mph. PC Ford said the car was being driven on the wrong side of the road.

When it went onto Barkerhouse Road the car failed to stop at a give way line.

The Seat travelled at 60mph on the wrong side of the road on Larch Street, which has a speed limit of 20mph. As it went onto Chapelhouse Road the Seat continued to be driven on the wrong side of the road.

Mr Reid said PC Ford decided to stop the pursuit as it was too dangerous.

However other officers saw the car minutes later close to Napier Street and ‘boxed it in’ to prevent Sharif from escaping.

Sharif was hiding under a coat on the back seat.

Mr Reid said when the defendant was breathalysed he gave a reading of 94 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Sharif, of Walton Lane, Nelson, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and drink-driving.

Defending, Philip Holden said Sharif’s wife is a teacher at a school for children with disabilities and the lion's share of the care for their three children had fallen on the defendant. He said sending Sharif, who was in the process of setting up a tyre fitting business, to prison would seriously impact on his family.

Mr Holden said: “The defendant accepts he was drinking and that his driving was very poor indeed. The distance is about half a mile. It was in a residential area but it was a fairly short piece of driving in the circumstances.”

Jailing Sharif for nine months, Judge Andrew Woolman said it was fortunate nobody had been seriously injured or killed.

Sharif was banned from driving for 28 and a half months.