The man, aged 27, was arrested by a band of Port Stephens-Hunter Police officers out the front of a home in Rees James Road about 3.30pm.

Police said the man had been driving south from Queensland in a car alleged to have been stolen when about 2.05pm he was detected by highway patrol officers at Coopernook on the Mid North Coast.

Officers were on the lookout for the car after it was allegedly fuelled up and driven away from a Caltex service station along the Pacific Highway at Taree without the driver paying.

Traffic and highway patrol officers perused the car south along the Pacific Highway, past Coopernook, for a short distance. However, the pursuit was called off due to safety concerns.

The car was later detected by Port Stephens-Hunter's Police Target Action Group along the Pacific Highway as it neared Raymond Terrace.

The driver turned off the highway onto Rangers Road at Ferodale.

After reaching the end of Rangers Road, which comes to a dead end, police said the man drove the car off road. It then became bogged in swamp land.

It is alleged the man then fled from the car on foot, running through semi-rural properties in the area.

He was found a short time later in Rees James Road and was arrested without incident, police said.

The man was charged with a number of traffic-related offences including police pursuit, drive in a manner dangerous, fail to pay for fuel, disqualified driving and drive a stolen vehicle.

The man was refused bail and was due to appear infront of a Raymond Terrace Local Court magistrate on Friday morning.