A PETRIFIED motorist was forced to drive more than three miles across Thanet by a gang of thugs and robbed at knifepoint.

The 30-year-old victim, from Margate, was getting into his red Nissan Micra in Marine Terrace at about 3am on Saturday when a young man approached him and asked where he was going.

The driver said he was going to London and the man asked if he could give him a lift. The victim agreed but as the first man got into his car three other men quickly climbed into the back seat. They were all in their 20s and white.

As the car headed along Canterbury Road towards Birchington, the front seat "passenger" pulled out a knife and threatened the driver. As they approached the St Nicholas roundabout, the passenger ordered the driver to reverse into a secluded lay-by between the Margate and Thanet Way exits.

There the knifeman demanded the driver hand over his wallet, containing £150 then he got out of the car. At the same time, the driver escaped and ran back down the central reservation along Canterbury Road towards Brooksend Hill.

One of the "passengers" then drove the car back down the road and began chasing the man along the central reservation. Eventually the driver gave up, turned round and drove away.

The car was later found burned out in Church Street, Whitstable. Police wish to hear from anyone who may have seen the men getting into the car in Marine Terrace, the victim running along the A28 Canterbury Road, the car being driven along the central reservation, or being abandoned in Whitstable. The officer in the case, DC Ray Butterwick, he can be contacted on (01843) 222002.

Police describe the knifeman as white, about 25 years old, about 5ft 11in tall and thin with short light brown hair parted at the side. He was wearing a white T-shirt, dark trousers and dark shoes.