Car Leasing News, Reviews and Stories

Last Winter I was driving my new Honda Accord, at night, to my mother’s house in Dorset. I’d obtained the car only the previous week on personal car lease from Nationwide Vehicle Contracts. They had kindly delivered the car to my home and it was (and still is) the first Honda that I had driven. I was delighted with both the car, the service I’d received from Nationwide and, importantly, the price that I was being charged. I mention this now as it explains the ineptitude that I disclose a little later in this story.

Driving towards Dorset, through Hampshire, I decided to take a slight detour from my normal route along the A31 and headed into the New Forest to stop at the New Forest Hotel for a bite to eat. I’d lived in Ashurst, near to Lyndhurst, many years ago, whilst I worked in New Milton so the area, and the pub, were both familiar to me.

After enjoying a very pleasant meal at the New Forest Hotel I headed off down the A35 towards Lyndhurst.

As I left Lyndhurst I became aware of two motorcycles that were behind me, not really making any attempt to overtake. After we travelled for a few miles both bikes sped past me and disappeared into the distance and I thought nothing more of it. I continued on my journey, happily listening to the radio, looking forward to seeing my mum and feeling full thanks to the excellent supper served at the New Forest Hotel. Then, all of a sudden, my front near side tyre became punctured.

I immediately pulled into an unlit layby on the unlit road in the middle of the New Forest. I have been driving for over 30 years and this was the first puncture that I’d ever had. I was immediately a bit stumped as I had no idea where the jack, the wrench for the wheel nuts or the spare wheel was located in my new Honda. I wasn’t particularly panicked but I did wish that I’d familiarised myself with the car a little more thoroughly.

I stepped out of the car into the dark cold night and found myself face to face with a large, leather clad biker, wearing a full face crash helmet. “Got a problem mate?” He said. I was more shaken by this encounter than I had been by the puncture but I managed to tell him that I needed to change my wheel and that I had no idea where the spare was.

The biker said to me “Have you got a phone?” I wasn’t sure why he was asking me this but I replied “Yes” and pulled my mobile from my pocket. With one quick movement he swiped my mobile phone from my hand. It was then that I became aware of another person stood further back in the darkness who laughed nervously when his mate snatched my mobile phone. “It’s bloody dangerous around here” said the phone snatcher, “Haven’t you heard, there are highwaymen on these roads”. This provoked both men to laugh loudly and I could smell the beer on the phone snatcher’s breath.

He proceeded to force me to empty my pockets, stuffing my cash into his leather jacket. Whilst this was taking place I was wondering if I should run and what they might do next. They then asked for the car keys, which I dutifully gave them. I thought they were going to steal my new Honda Accord but instead they located the jack and the wheel brace, took them from the vehicle and threw them into the dense undergrowth. Thankfully they then mounted their motorcycles, which had been hidden in the shadows, and sped off back towards Lyndhurst.

I was left in the woods with no means of communication, no money, no keys and a car with a flat tyre and no means of changing the wheel. Luckily I still had my warm winter clothes so I wrapped up and headed off down the road towards Lyndhurst myself. Luckily I’d only been walking for about 20 minutes when I was able to flag down a passing motorist, explain what had happened and persuade them to give me a ride to a nearby police station.

The police informed me that this was not the first case of modern day highway robbery that had taken place in recent years in the New Forest region. Previous occurrences all appear to have followed a very similar modus operandi wherein some bikers, having identified their mark, follow them onto roads which they know are very dark and near deserted. They then pick a spot where they set up a suitable booby trap to burst the mark’s tyres and then they relieve the mark of their cash and valuables.

The police told me that crimes had been limited to theft and damage, so far, but they were concerned that the problem may escalate and that someone could easily be hurt if they confronted these modern-day highwaymen.

I completed my journey to my mothers thanks to my sister who came and rescued me from the New Forest. National Vehicle Contracts, along with a local garage, helped to get my Honda Accord on the road again but I am now very wary of travelling along unlit country roads at night whilst alone in my car.