A former Oxfordshire footballer has been jailed for dangerous driving after colliding with a police car in a busy car park.

Former Thame United player Jefferson Louis, 22, who had been disqualified from driving, jumped into a brook to try and escape capture after police spotted him behind the wheel of a car in the centre of Aylesbury, the town's Crown Court heard on Friday.

Judge David Morton Jack sentenced Louis to 12 months for dangerous driving and three months concurrent for driving while disqualified. He was also banned from driving for another two years.

At a trial three weeks ago, a jury took less than five minutes to find him guilty of driving his Renault Clio dangerously in the Civic Centre car park and nearby Exchange Street.

Jill Hurworth, prosecuting, said police officers had to jump out of the way as Louis sped from the car park on March 18.

He then collided with their car and jumped out of his Renault while it was still moving, leaving the car to roll down a bank on to a busy dual carriageway.

In court, Louis, who admitted driving while disqualified, claimed police lied in court about the March 18 incident, to ensure he was convicted.

Sentencing him for what he described as "a hideous piece of driving", the judge told Louis, of Freemantle Road, Aylesbury: "You have a bad criminal record.

"You have not been in prison before, and the time has clearly come when the only way in which you are going to learn is by suffering."