A 21-YEAR-OLD Lye man has been jailed for six months after he went for a ride on a stolen bus - which became involved in a police chase - after he had been drinking heavily.

During the ten-minute pursuit, which involved patrol cars and a helicopter, the single decker bus - taken from a depot in the Black Country - went over a stinger device put down by cops.

Tyres burst but it carried on being driven by 39-year-old John Burton, who went through a set of red traffic lights and the wrong way around a traffic island, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

There were sparks and smoke coming from the wheel rims and when the vehicle finally came to a halt Burton, Simon Loveland and Thomas Tibbs ran off but were quickly arrested.

Judge James Burbidge QC said the three defendants maintained they had not stolen the bus but it was clear they boarded when it pulled up outside a pub.

Significant police resources were involved in tracking the vehicle and the stinger device had not deterred them in their bid to escape.

Tibbs, of Clinic Drive, Lye; Burton, of Beaconsfield, Telford, and 39-year-old Loveland, of Dale Close, Tipton, all admitted aggravated vehicle taking and allowing themselves to be carried in the stolen bus.

Burton further admitted driving while disqualified and without insurance and he was jailed for 16 months and banned from driving for 13 months.

Loveland was put behind bars for 12 months with an 18-month driving ban - while Tibbs was jailed for six months and disqualified from driving for 15 months.

Paul Windridge, prosecuting, said witnesses saw the bus being driven away from the depot and they quickly alerted police.

It was soon spotted but it failed to stop despite the stinger device bursting tyres - and during the chase the bus also struck a road sign and knocked over a garden fence.

Phillip Vollans, defending Tibbs, said he had been drinking with the others and he was intoxicated.

"The bus pulled up and he got on. He was not sure where it was going. He wasn't really thinking."