The getaway driver for a gang which was carrying out distraction raids at county garages has been jailed for two years.

Shaun Collins claimed he had been threatened by his two accomplices after they stole £2,130 worth of cigarettes from the Total garage in Worcester Road, Droitwich.

But Worcester Crown Court Judge, Ian Morris, pointed out that Collins could easily have given himself up when faced by a police road-block instead of making a high-speed bid for freedom.

Collins, aged 23, of Rubery Farm Grove, Rednal, pleaded guilty to burglary and dangerous driving.

The gang failed in their first attempt to steal from the Paul Newbury garage in Droitwich on February 16 last year, said David Watson, prosecuting.

A short time later, they arrived at the Total garage where one of them distracted staff while another crawled into a storeroom. He was disturbed by the supervisor as he loaded cigarettes into a plastic bag.

Staff noted the getaway car number and it was intercepted by police at the Lydiate Ash junction of the M5. Collins hit a police car before driving away on the A38 at speeds of up to 80mph.

When the car stopped suddenly, Collins was arrested but the other two men got away. One has not been traced and the other is currently serving a long sentence for other matters, said Mr Watson.

The accomplices were "heavies" who had intimidated Collins, said Dele Alakija, defending. Collins, a father-of-five who intended to marry his partner next month, had been told they were going out of Birmingham to buy a car.

Since the arrest, Collins' family had been threatened and he intended to start a new life in the south of England.

Judge Morris said the offence marked an escalation in Collins' criminal history. He had played an important part in a premeditated crime. There may have been a degree of compulsion but he had driven dangerously in a bid to evade police instead of giving himself up.