View video footage that accompanies this article by clicking HERE (please note there is no audio with this video)

A hapless thief is today regretting stealing a Telehandler hired from Fork Rent.

The telehandler was stolen from a building site in Mansfield but what the thief hadn't bargained for was the high level of vehicle tracking equipment that had been fitted to the Fork Rent vehicle.

Within minutes of the theft, he realised that he was being followed by numerous police cars and also the force's dedicated helicopter.

Nottingham Crown Court described that he had driven "like a man possessed" in an attempt to get away, and in the process had damaged vehicles, hedges and flattened heavy iron gates along with several headstones in a local church.

The man has been jailed for 4.5 years and has also admitted to stealing 16 other vehicles in the year leading up to the rampage and was revealed to be a member of a gang responsible for numerous plant thefts across the country.

Sensational footage which has just been released by the police helicopter used to track and help in apprehending the thief can be seen by clicking HERE (please note there is no audio with this video)