A WOMAN who was high on cannabis sparked a police chase when officers tried to stop her outside McDonald's - with CCTV showing her driving the wrong way around a roundabout.

Jade Stevens was in the car park of the fast-food restaurant at 10am when officers became concerned about her driving and tried to pull her over.

But she zoomed off with police giving chase as she sped past cars on the wrong side of the road in Newhaven. 

The 23-year-old was caught on camera going against the flow of traffic at a roundabout, forcing other motorists to swerve out of the way. 

Stevens, from Denmark Villas, Hove, was hauled up in front of court for her "outrageous piece of driving".

Judge Rachel Drake told her: “You are very fortunate that no one else – including yourself – was seriously injured. 

“That is perhaps because it was not rush hour. If you had killed somebody you would be looking at a lengthy custodial sentence.”

Stevens was in a black Volkswagen and had a passenger with her at the time of the incident on November 23 last year.

CCTV footage was shown to Hove Crown Court, with Stevens seen speeding up while followed by a police vehicle.

She then darted out of the car park before weaving in and out of traffic on The Drove.

Prosecutor Anoushka Twining told the court how other drivers “narrowly avoided collisions” as Stevens went the wrong way around a roundabout.

She said: “The aggravating factor here is that there is a clear attempt to avoid detention."

The high-speed chase between Stevens and police lasted for approximately three minutes in heavy traffic before the car finally pulled up.

Stevens was hauled up in front of court where she pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

She also admitted driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug, namely Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol – the active ingredient in cannabis – above the specified limit.

Brian Shaw, defending, told the court the incident was a “wake-up call” to his client.

For the dangerous driving offence, Stevens was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for eighteen months, and ordered to complete 20 rehabilitation and activity requirement days and 120 hours’ unpaid work.

She was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £156 and costs of £180, and was also disqualified from driving for 18 months. She will also have to take an extended driving test.

Stevens wept in the dock as sentence was passed. There was no separate penalty for the drug driving offence, for using a motor vehicle on a public road without insurance, for driving without a proper licence or for possessing cannabis.

She admitted all charges at an earlier hearing.