AN OFF-ROAD biker has avoided jailed after riding along a canal towpath and fleeing police.

Officers were called to the scene in Middlewich at around 4.40pm on Saturday following reports of a man on an off-road bike on the canal towpath.

Benjamin Hargreaves was located by the patrols, but sped off before he could be dealt with.

Police continued to search the area and found the 33-year-old again at around 7.30pm when he was arrested and his bike seized.

Members of the public who witnessed him riding around described the bike 'bombing up and down' the towpath.

Hargreaves, from Mill Street, Crewe, was subsequently charged with failing to provide a specimen, driving while disqualified and failing to stop.

He appeared at Chester Magistrates' Court earlier today where he pleaded guilty to all charges.

Magistrates handed him a 12-week prison sentence, but suspended it for two years.

Hargreaves was also banned from the roads for three years and had his licence endorsed.

He was also hit with a £154 fine and ordered to pay costs of £85.