A QUICK-THINKING council worker told told of how he caught a drink driver after chasing him for four miles in his rubbish truck.

Phil Parkins, 33, was driving his Hyndburn Council flat-bed wagon along Whalley Road, Clayton-le-Moors, when he saw a blue Vauxhall Cavalier weaving erratically at up to 50mph

And as Phil, of John Street, Clayton-le-Moors, dialled 999 to alert the police he turned on his vehicle's orange beacon to stop the driver and alert people to the danger.

The car had sparks coming from a wheel which had lost its tyre. Phil chased the it from the junction with Sparth Road to the area of Cop Bridge and Portfield Bar, Great Harwood, before the car pulled over.

Phil and four other people then held Carl William Gillibrand, 24, of Curzon Street, Clitheroe, until the police arrived, at around 7pm on October 10.

Gillibrand pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol when he appeared before Blackburn magistrates in connection with the incident. The court made him subject to a community rehabilitation order for 18 months, ordered him to do 100 hours community service and banned him from driving for three years.

The court also heard that Gillibrand gave a reading of 81 against the legal limit of 35 when breathalysed and had earlier crashed into another vehicle in Oswaldtwistle.

Phil said: "I was on the way to Great Harwood to clear a bonfire that some children had built under some play equipment near Railway Terrace.

"I was on Whalley Road at the traffic lights with Sparth Road when I came across the blue Vauxhall Cavalier. The driver started to weave all over the road and tried to overtake cars.

"I dialled 999 because he was driving dangerously, was clearly drunk and could have caused an accident.

"I followed him with the orange beacon flashing until he came to stop and the police could get to him."

Chief Inspector Phil Cottam of Accrington Police said: "I would like to commend the actions of the driver and the other members of the public who were quick-witted enough to give us the information which meant a man who was a danger to the public could be stopped."

Hyndburn Council leader Coun Peter Britcliffe said: "His actions are indeed to be commended. His quick thinking and the fact that he followed him while flashing his orange lights meant no members of the public were harmed, which could very well have happened."