A LORRY driver suffered a brutal attack with an iron bar in a New Forest layby.

The attack beside the A31 near Stoney Cross at lunchtime on Sunday left the man, who is in his 60s, bruised and very shaken.

Police say the Dairy Crest lorry driver from Totnes in Devon pulled into the layby beside the eastbound carriageway for a break on his way to Southampton at about 12.45pm and got out of his cab.

Shortly afterwards a white Ford Transit van containing four men arrived in the layby and three of the men got out.

One of the men climbed into the cab of the lorry, another entered the trailer and the third started to try and siphon diesel from the lorry's fuel tank.

The lorry driver confronted them and was hit across the back with a metal bar. Following the assault, the three men fled and sped away in the Transit van.

The driver did not receive medical attention at the time, but Acting Sgt Debbie Holman said the assault left him "extremely shaken. I would appeal to any witnesses travelling along the A31 at the time, who saw anything, to come forward," she said.

"I would particularly like to hear from a lady sitting in a dark blue car that was parked up behind the lorry in the same layby at the time of the assault."

The lorry and trailer are both white and carry the green and yellow Dairy Crest logo.

  • Anyone with information should contact Acting Sgt Holman at Totton police station on 0845 045 4545 or the anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555111.