A 21-year-old who led police on a car chase from Rabat to Vittoriosa on Sunday night was remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to charges that included breaching bail in three cases.

Dustin Bugeja, 21, from Vittoriosa, was driving a Mercedes without registration and with foreign number plates when he was flagged down by a police officer on a motorcycle who reportedly saw him driving too fast.

He allegedly failed to stop and the officer called for back-up. Traffic and rapid intervention units followed the car as it headed south, until it was cornered in Vittoriosa at about 7.15pm.

The reason he took off was because he knew the car was not registered and he was out when he should have been at home on a curfew under his bail conditions, his lawyers Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili said.

Mr Bugeja denied driving dangerously and at speed and disobeying police orders.

He also pleaded not guilty to driving without insurance cover and a licence, and breaching bail in three separate cases.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera remanded him in custody.