An aspiring Birmingham actor has been jailed after he tried to get away from police - and almost crashed into a house.

Jordanel Alexander fled from the vehicle but was found hiding in a bush.

The 21-year-old, of Briddslands, Tile Cross, who had previously admitted dangerous driving, having no insurance or driving licence and failing to answer bail , was sentenced to six months  and banned from the roads for 15 months.

Officers on patrol in Smithswood, Solihull, saw the defendant driving a Seat Ibiza over the speed limit, on May 19 this year at 1.17am.

Jordanel Alexander outside Birmingham Crown Court

They turned their blue lights and siren on and Alexander accelerated "harshly" away.

In wet conditions the defendant drove at up to 50mph through a built up housing estate on roads with a 30mph limit.

He appeared to be looking for somewhere to abandon the vehicle and narrowly missed colliding with street furniture and parked cars, said Matthew Cullen, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court .

He said: "He attempted to turn right, mounted the pavement, collided with a street sign.

"He went through the sign, a hedge and a fence, narrowly missing a house," he added.

People fled from the Seat and police later found Alexander's trainer in the driver's foot well.

When quizzed the defendant said he had bought the car for £800 and had been "showing off" to a friend in the vehicle.

He panicked when he saw the police because he did not have any documentation.

In passing sentence Recorder Naomi Ellenbogen QC said: "You gave no thought to other road users, pedestrians that might have been present or passengers in the car or police officers who were obliged to give chase."

Thomas Griffiths, defending , said Alexander' was working at a barbers although his "predominant" interest was in acting.

He said he wanted to enrol at college and had previously obtained an A star qualification in drama.

Mr Griffiths said for the majority of the pursuit Alexander had remained within the speed limit and went on "the offending smacks of immaturity and naivety."

Following a falling out with his mother the defendant, he said, had become homeless and he had bought the vehicle to live in.