Motorist in A21 terror chase

The 20-year-old Robertsbridge man, who does not want to be named, was driving home from Kent in the early hours of the morning when another driver started to follow his car, ramming him and trying to force him off the road.

The man was driving along the stretch of road at Lamberhurst, by Bewl Water, just after 11.45pm on Thursday, February 10, when a red Ford Mondeo came up behind his Peugeot.

He said: “This car came flying up behind me, flashing his lights and indicators and I moved to the side thinking ‘off you go’.”

The car overtook, but when the two vehicles stopped at traffic lights at Flimwell, the front passenger in the Mondeo got out of the vehicle and opened the back door and was seen to pick something up from the floor.

Fearing for his safety, the other motorist left the A21 and drove through some back roads in Hawkhurst in a bid to shake off the aggressive Mondeo driver.

But the driver followed him, and the terrified man called police at 12.05am as his pursuer tried to force him off the road.

The pursuit continued when both vehicles rejoined the A21.

He said: “We eventually got back on the A21 coming back down.

“As we got to the Robertsbridge roundabout he collided with the back of my car and sent it sidewards.”

With the exhaust now hanging off the vehicle, the man called police again and drove around the John’s Cross roundabout for ‘two or three minutes’, before the pursuing driver turned around and attempted to drive at him head-on.

The Peugeot driver quickly got off the roundabout and started heading down the A2100, towards Battle.

He said the Mondeo was going so fast it ‘jumped over’ the level crossing before pulling out in front and blocking the road near the British Gypsum site.

The Peugeot driver turned around in a nearby layby and started heading back in the other direction.

Luckily, six or seven police cars were now on the scene and the driver who was being chased pulled over, as officers from Rother and Hastings stopped the Mondeo just south of John’s Cross at 12.20am.

The driver, a 21-year-old unemployed man from St Leonards, was arrested on suspicion of drink driving, dangerous driving, and having no driving license.

The victim said: “I was scared, but when he hit my car, I was more annoyed.

“But when it was going on, I was not scared to admit I was frightened for my life.

“The roads were damp and I could have spun off.”

The man has now been left with a £400-500 bill to get his car repaired.

He added: “He was aggressive, swerving around behind me, flashing his lights.

“I was on my own in the car, thank God.

“I would not want a passenger in the car when that was going on .”

The Mondeo driver was questioned at Hastings Police Station before being released on bail until March.

PC Mark Austen, of the case direction team at Hastings Police Station, said: “Thankfully no one was hurt as a result of this incident.

“We would like to hear from anyone who was on the A21 between midnight and 12.20am on Thursday morning and saw what happened.”

Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to contact PC Austen on 0845 6070999 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.