HAVE-a-go-heroes who saw off threatening car thieves have been praised for their bravery.

Phil Sadler, Simon Hyland and Alan Smith raced out of their office and tackled two men who had broken into a car.

The men, who work for software company Aurora in Walderslade Village at Chatham, didn’t think twice about approaching the yobs, even though they were threatened with a screwdriver.

Mr Smith, 41, one of the company’s managers, said: “I was parking my car at about 10am on Tuesday behind the office when I saw two dodgy-looking blokes staring at all the cars.

One of them was wearing a clear plastic glove and I thought it was a bit strange, so I contacted the police.”

Seconds later the men, believed to be in their 20s, had broken into a Ford Fiesta parked next to the Co-op car park.

The three men and another colleague, who did not wish to be named, hurtled down the stairs and into the car park.

One of the thieves was crouching down, hotwiring the engine. Mr Sadler, 35, said: “They told my colleague they had lost the keys. Then they said they had a gun. Then one of them pulled out a large screwdriver.”

Mr Sadler said: “Once they got out the screwdriver we backed off, but then they jumped into a red Shogun parked next to the car they were trying to steal, smashed into the wall and reversed out of the car park in a bid to escape.”

Mr Smith was able to give police a detailed description of the getaway vehicle and thieves. He said: “It is the audacity of it, to do it in broad daylight. How people can do that in the middle of the day is beyond me.

“My lads went round to all the shops afterwards to find out who owned the car because we couldn’t leave it. Eventually the police turned up to recover the car and later we had a phone call from the owner of the car thanking us for our help.

“My lads did really well and deserve some recognition for their bravery.”

Mr Hyland said they didn’t think about what they were doing or their safety.