Knife-wielding thugs threatened to stab a dad who heard them breaking into his van - before attempting to run him over as they escaped.

Josh Bagshaw initially thought the sounds outside his home in Preston, near Canterbury, were being made by foxes when he was awoken in the middle of the night.

But when the 29-year-old carpenter peered out of his window and saw two men stealing power tools from his vehicle, he ran outside to challenge them dressed only in his underwear.

“I came running out screaming at them, and that’s when one of them held a knife up to me, and the other shouted ‘stab him, stab him’,” Mr Bagshaw recalled.

“Then I thought ‘it’s not worth it’, and I told them ‘just take it’.

“The tools are my livelihood, but I can’t work if I’m dead.

“Next thing I know they’re driving their car straight at me.”

Mr Bagshaw - who has one son, nine-month-old Dennis - avoided being hit by the robbers’ black car, which is thought to have been a Vauxhall, by jumping onto a grassy bank next to the road.

He believes he could have been killed after thwarting the early-hours break-in.

“One minute you’re in bed, next you’re outside in your pants and someone’s trying to run you over,” he continued.

“It was quite a mad situation to be in.

“At the time I was just angry, but looking back it was quite scary.

“I’ve got a baby at home, and I could have been killed.”

"The tools are my livelihood, but I can’t work if I’m dead..."

A police spokesman says officers were called to the scene at 2.40am on Thursday, February 9 after receiving a report two men had been seen stealing items from a van in Mill Lane, Preston.

Detectives were told the owner of the vehicle “challenged the men before being threatened”.

“Power tools were stolen from the van and the two men left the area in a black car, believed to be a Vauxhall,” the force spokesman added.

“Officers attended and carried out a search for the vehicle and an investigation into the incident is ongoing.”

Police are urging anyone with information about the robbery, or who has dashcam or CCTV footage, to contact them on 01843 222289, quoting the reference number 46/24644/23.

Crimestoppers can also be called anonymously on 0800 555111.