ONE of Dorset's most dangerous drivers has admitted a string of further offences committed while he was behind the wheel.

Lee Hogben - who in February 2012 stole a refuse lorry and smashed into police vehicles on a 70-mile chase across Dorset - appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court earlier this month.

He admitted driving while disqualified, using a vehicle without third-party insurance, damaging property and driving dangerously on Vicarage Road, Wimborne Road, Castle Lane West and Charminster Road in Bournemouth.

All of the offences took place on December 30 last year.

The car concerned was a green Rover 25.

The 32-year-old, of Stewart Road in Bournemouth, was sentenced for a series of similar offences in October 2014, including dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and criminal damage.

A judge sitting at Bournemouth Crown Court at that time heard Hogben already had four convictions for dangerous driving and 33 convictions in total for 89 offences, many of which involved cars.

He was sentenced to six months behind bars.

The defendant, who has been remanded into custody after admitting his latest offences, was stripped of his licence in 2012, with a judge ordering him not to step behind the wheel of a car for a decade.

In October last year, he was cleared of driving while disqualified and driving without insurance at Bournemouth Magistrates' Court.

Hogben was alleged to have been spotted by police driving a Ford Mondeo on August 21 2015.

However, magistrates ruled the Crown had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he was driving the vehicle at the time.

The defendant told the court: "I am an innocent man this time."

Hogben will appear at court again on Monday, February 4 for sentence.