A drunk driver left police stunned after hopping out of his car with a broken leg in plaster.

Sayed Ahmed then scrambled back into the driver’s seat again as his Mercedes began to roll off down a steep hill.

The police officer was forced to jog alongside the runaway saloon shouting at the customer services assistant to put the handbrake on.

Ahmed was found to be more than twice over the legal alcohol limit when he was given a breath test.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court yesterday (tue) the 43-year-old pleaded guilty to drink-driving and not have a valid license or insurance.

Ahmed, of Collingwood Close, Peacehaven, was banned from driving for 22 months and fined £350.

Annette Mulrooney, prosecuting, said an officer in a marked police car saw him driving his Mercedes in Eastern Road, Brighton, at 10pm on April 1.

He overtook a bus very slowly and then pulled sharply infront of it as he continued to drive toward the city centre.

Ms Mullrooney said the officer put his car's blue lights on and Ahmed pulled over but clipped the kerb as he did so.

She added: “The defendant started to get out of the car to speak to the officer but forgot to put the handbrake on.

“The officer had to jog alongside the Mercedes as it rolled down the hill shouting at the driver to put the brake on.

“When the car finally stopped he saw that the defendant had a plaster caste on his foot. His eyes were glazed and the officer could smell alcohol on his breath.”

Ahmed was arrested and tests showed he had 77 micrograms of alcohol per 100 mls of breath.

Magistrates were told that he had an international driving license when he came to England from Pakistan in 2005.

However, he only has a provisional license to drive in the UK which made his insurance for the Mercedes invalid.

Ahmed said: “I am guilty and I am sorry.

“I had an argument with my girlfriend who was coming down from Leicester to see me.

“I decided to go to Pool Valley in Brighton to meet her and to apologise because I was very sorry.”

Ahmed, who appeared in court on crutches, agreed to take a drink driver's awareness course which will reduce the ban to 19 months if he completes it.