Simon Lewington (41), of Fir Tree Walk, Harborough, tied the sledge to the back of his vehicle before pulling it along a snow-covered road near to Harborough police station on February 6 last year.

The court heard that when Lewington was stopped by police, he told officers he wanted to give his son a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' of being towed on snow on a road in his home town.

At Harborough Magistrates' Court today he was sentenced to a 12-month community order to complete 180 hours unpaid work and handed a driving ban.

Lewington had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.

On that occasion, magistrates told him he faced a prison sentence for risking his child's life and that of other motorists.

But magistrates chair Eunice Loney told Lewington today: "You certainly have given you and your whole family a once in a lifetime experience but not one that you would like to repeat."

"We have taken into account your previous good character, your remorse, your full co-operation and admissions. In light of this, we do not consider that this warrants a custodial sentence."