A one-legged prisoner gave three able bodied guards the slip when he was due on court over burglary offences.

The prison service has promised a formal investigation following the escape of 28-year-old Michael Hill, who was not handcuffed because he was on crutches, from Ealing Magistrates Court on Friday.

However, as the guards went to take him to a prison van to transfer him to Wormwood Scrubs he made a break for freedom ditching the crutches and running around 200 yards.

He then hopped over a wall and disappeared into a block of flats on the nearby Green Man Lane Estate.

The Greenford resident had earlier appeared in court charged with domestic burglary offences.