A luxury Bentley car once owned by football star Kevin Keegan was stolen, taken on a 100mph joyride through the New Forest before it was crashed into a tree.

The gang of three were lucky to escape with their lives after they had to be pulled from the burning wreckage by police officers who moments earlier had been trying to stop the speeding vehicle.

Southampton Youth Court heard how the 17-year-old girl driver lost control of the vehicle as it rounded a bend on the A35 at high speed and ploughed into a tree that broke in half as a result of the impact, causing the car to flip onto its roof.

The pursuing police car then crashed into the wrecked tree lying across the road, injuring the driver and female police officer. Despite their injuries the officers dashed to the wrecked Bentley, used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames and a crowbar to open the doors, and pulled the three teenagers from the wreckage.

A second police car smashed into the back of the first, and a third careered off the road.

The court heard how the 17-year-old driver had taken the car on a high-speed drive from Ringwood through the villages of Bransgore and Thorney Hill reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour on twisting country roads.

The court was told that the teenager, together with another 17-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been drinking before they came across the Bentley Continental in a driveway in Parsonage Barn Lane, Ringwood.

The court heard the defendant stole the car keys from the house during the early hours of April 15. The gang also took a wallet, mobile phone and laptop.

Technology fitted in the Bentley enabled police to track it and three police cars pursued it at speed through the forest.

The pursuit only came to an end when the driver lost control of the powerful car on a bend on the A35 at Holmsley Hill ploughing into a tree.

It caused three other police cars to crash on the road, leaving five police officers with minor injuries.

Prosecutor Owen Holloway said: "It was a scene of sheer carnage with debris and smoke everywhere." He went on to describe the defendants as "hysterical" as they were pulled from the wreckage.

The court heard how the early morning crash wrote off the Bentley and with the collision of the three police cars the repair bill topped £100,000.

The Bentley was originally owned by the former England and Newcastle manager and ex-Southampton player Kevin Keegan and would have cost £100,000 new.

At court yesterday the 17-year-old driver, from Holbury, pleaded guilty to taking a vehicle without consent and dangerous driving, burglary and driving without a licence or insurance. She was handed a six-month detention and training order and disqualified for driving for a year when she is eligible for a licence. Magistrates sentenced the other 17-year-old girl from Bransgore to a four-month detention and training order after she pleaded guilty to burglary and aggravated vehicle taking.

A 16-year-old boy from New Milton pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods, allowing himself to be carried in a vehicle that was taken without consent, and driving without a licence or insurance. He was sentenced to a 12-month supervision order and a three-month curfew. He will be disqualified from driving for two years when he comes of age.