A COMPANY boss has told how he took part in a dramatic car chase through the streets of a Hampshire town to get back the truck stolen from under his nose.

Phil Smith described his horror as the thief drove at him in his attempt to get away.

Police eventually found the truck abandoned after a search involving a helicopter and dogs.

But, in a bizarre twist, when Phil went to collect his personal effects from scenes-of-crime officers examining his vehicle, he found nearly £3,500 in cash he had stashed in the glove compartment was still there.

Phil, who runs his own fencing business, had been working on a garden in Sandy Lane, Fair Oak, with his Ford Transit flatbed van parked on the drive, when he heard the engine start.

He reached the truck just as it was reversing away and said he saw the driver gesture at him and smile.

By chance a woman from a neighbouring house saw what happened and they chased the thief in her car for two miles.

Phil was calling police when the stolen truck, five cars in front, stopped in a traffic jam on Fair Oak Road at Fisher’s Pond.

The thief pulled into a layby to turn around and after the woman pulled in alongside to try to block him off, Phil grabbed hold of the window and wing mirror.

Phil, from Eastleigh, who is in his mid-50s, said: “Apparently he opened the door to knock me off balance and I still had hold of the wing mirror.

“He put it in reverse. I looked down and the front wheel was going to run over my foot so I moved it.

“The bumper hit me right in the knee and it knocked me flying.

“I was laid on the ground, I looked around and he was coming straight at me and I dived to get out of the way.

“If I’d got in the way I think he’d have run me over. I dread to think what would have happened.”

Phil needed hospital treatment for grazes and bruising to his leg.

“Everything happened so quickly – it was unbelievable,” he said.

“I just can’t stand people going around taking other people’s stuff, it’s not right.

“I’d just like to say ‘look at what you missed’ – to know that he did not get the money does give me some satisfaction,” said Phil.

The thief is described as white, in his late 20s to early 30s, with a round face, short blond hair and clean shaven.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the theft, which happened around 3pm on September 18, or anyone with information to call PC Alan Swanton at Eastleigh police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.