A lorry driver caught up in a road-rage incident on the A20 deliberately shunted a van into a lamppost – because he feared for his life.

Former soldier and bouncer John Jacombs said he was petrified when he was confronted by three men in the van.

The 45-year-old told a jury how the van had tried to force his 44 tonne lorry up a grass verge and into oncoming traffic.

He broke down and wept as he said: “I had three choices – go into three lanes of traffic with my lorry which is 14ft 6in high, 8ft 6in wide and 60ft long; stop and risk being dragged out of my cab and given a good hiding and maybe even killed; or go left to push his van into a lamppost.

“It was an extreme measure, but I had no choice, no choice at all. I had never seen anything like this in 20 years of driving.

“The other driver was so angry that the only thing missing was him foaming at the mouth. He was that insane, crazy.”

The jury found Mr Jacombs, of Harwich, Essex, not guilty of dangerous driving after hearing how he had become involved in a row with a van driver while returning to his company’s depot in Felixstowe.

On several occasions Mr Jacombs and van driver Gary Ferris exchanged insults along the A20 in July 2015.

Mr Jacombs said: “He was shouting and screaming that he was going to kill me. Being ex-forces I have been in some serious situations in the past and being a doorman for 20 years I have had to deal with difficult things.

“But this was the first time in my life when I was petrified.”

After stopping at services on the M20 he called the police and told officers he feared the men were trying to rob him.

“I was so panicked by the way he was driving.”

Earlier van driver Mr Ferris, from Ashford, had told how he had collected a hire van from B&Q intending to deliver furniture for his father.

He said he was driving with his son and a friend along the A20 when they tried to change lanes and he claimed they were insulted by Mr Jacombs.

As the two vehicles negotiated the Orchard Heights and Drovers roundabouts, unemployed Mr Ferris said the lorry forced his van off the road.

He told the jury: “The driver was laughing ... ha,ha,ha ... just like that.”