Incredible police dash cam footage of stolen bus chase - watch here

Joyrider John Burton, who had been disqualified from driving, is also seen mounting the pavement and going the wrong way around an island on the footage, which has been released by West Midlands Police

The 38-year-old, of Beaconsfield, Brookside, was jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicle taking.

His picture has also been released by police for the first time along with two men who were passengers on the bus during the chase – Simon Loveland, 39, of Dale Close, Tipton, and Thomas Tibbs, 21, of Clinic Drive, Stourbridge.

The bus – tailed from the Shropshire border by a police helicopter and patrol cars – careered through a red traffic light without stopping in Parkfield Road, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard earlier this month.

It was driven at up to 50 miles an hour.

It then went the wrong way round a traffic island, knocked down a road sign, clipped the kerb and tore off part of its bodywork in a collision with a fence, suffering £10,000 damage – but still did not stop, prosecutor Mr Ian Windridge revealed at court.

Burton was even undeterred when two tyres of the single decker were burst by a stinger laid across the road by police in a bid to stop it.

The vehicle continued on the wheel rims – and even overtook a car – while listing alarmingly and leaving a tell-tale trail of smoke and sparks in its wake along Penn Road in Wolverhampton.

The Sandwell Travel bus finally came to a standstill in The Paddock, Bilston, where the driver and two passengers made a run for it but were quickly caught.

Two men were seen stealing it from the company's base in Tinsley Street, Tipton, on March 30, the court was told.

But the pursuit did not start until 2.20am the following morning – six hours later – when it triggered an automatic number plate recognition camera while heading back towards Wolverhampton through Rudge Heath, near Claverley.

None of the three defendants admitted stealing the bus.

But all pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking on the grounds of either driving or being carried in it.

They had all been drinking, the court was told.

Mr Andrew Mitchinson, defending, conceded: "It is only by the grace of God that serious injury was not caused to anybody."

Judge James Burbidge QC jailed Burton for 16 months and Loveland for a year.

They had 37 and 31 previous convictions respectively. Tibbs got a six-month term because of his age and single previous conviction. The judge told them: "You say the bus mysteriously appeared outside the pub and you got on board. What followed required significant police resources.

"It was driven at up to 50mph and was obviously being pursued by police but did not stop."