THREE women were subjected to a terrifying ordeal when their car was rammed from behind and a car battery thrown through their window after they mistakenly turned into a dead end in an attempt to escape.

One of the women, a 20-year-old from Chatham , was injured when battery acid hit her.

The incident happened as the three women were leaving the Riverside pub in Canal Road, Strood, just after 2am on Sunday morning.

As they drove along Canal Road, towards Rochester Bridge, they noticed a car following closely behind. As they crossed the bridge the car rammed their Vauxhall Nova from behind.

The Nova's 35-year-old driver, from West Norwood, London, took the first left hand turn, Blue Boar lane, in an attempt to lose the car behind but did not realise Blue Boar lane was a dead end.

She wound down her window in an attempt to speak to the driver of the other car. She saw a man get out of the other car and pick something up. She then heard a smash and discovered a car battery had been thrown through a rear passenger window.

The 20-year-old suffered acid burns and cuts and bruises to her arm.

There is no description of the following car because the women were dazzled by the headlights of the car which followed them into Blue Boar Lane. The man who threw the battery is said to be tall and of skinny build, with his dark brown hair cut in skinhead style. By the time the Nova driver had turned her car round, the other car had driven off.

PC Steve Gibbins said: "This seems to be a totally unprovoked attack. The victims know of no reason why they should have been targeted like this.

"We need to catch these offenders before they do something similar again, so if anyone has any information, I would urge them to contact me as a matter of urgency."

Anyone with information is ask to contact Medway Police on 01634 884252 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.