A banned driver claimed he borrowed a friend's car to take his girlfriend to hospital when he thought she was suffering a miscarriage.

But police saw Rudi Trinder drive out of a petrol station in Wantage Road, Didcot. He drove off at speed before they lost him, Jenny Jonkheer, prosecuting, told Didcot magistrates.

She said: "One hour later, officers saw him outside a mobile home park in Hagbourne Road, Didcot, when he denied he had been driving as he had been at a friend's home." Trinder, 28, of Kynaston Road, Didcot, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and without insurance in Wantage Road on June 7, and was remanded on unconditional bail for reports.

Mrs Jonkheer said police identified Trinder as the driver after studying a CCTV video from the BP Garage in Wantage Road. He had been banned for 18 months by Oxford magistrates last year.

Alistair Grainger, defending, said there were "exceptional circumstances" as Trinder's girlfriend who had already had one miscarriage was suffering from severe pains.

He said: "They believed - incorrectly as it turned out - that she was having another miscarriage."

After phoning a doctor, Mr Grainger said Trinder was advised to take her to Didcot Hospital and as it was an emergency situation he thought it would be quicker to borrow a friend's car than to wait for an ambulance.