A man has described the moment he confronted two car thieves and narrowly avoided being assaulted with a 2ft pipe wrench.

At around 6.15pm on Sunday, Thomas Ware, 26, of Holt Road in Fakenham had just returned home after working an evening shift and heard a sound he described as, “a knocking sound on something metal”.

“I had only just come home and I thought it was my exhaust cooling down and creaking or something silly like that but it got louder and louder,” he said.

Stepping out of the garden shed, where he had been talking to his step dad, Mr Ware realised the sound was coming from the main road where his 4x4 Mitsubishi Pajero was parked.

“I walked out to have a look at what was going on and that was when I saw the two men in balaclavas standing against my truck.

“I immediately ran at them shouting and asking what they were doing.

“As I did they started to run off but not before one of them decided to come at me with a 2ft pipe wrench.

“I backed off and managed to evade a blow and he then turned and ran off.

“Both of them ran around the corner towards the RJ Francis Motorcycles store.”

Mr Ware and his stepdad then watched as an Audi parked near to their house sped down the road to catch up with the two thieves and picked them up.

Norfolk Police confirmed they were called to Holt Road at around 6.30pm on December 3.

They said two males were disturbed while trying to force entry into the vehicle and escaped in a dark-coloured Audi.

Police have not confirmed if the Audi was a stolen vehicle, however the number plate taken by Mr Ware does not match the make and model registered to the DVLA.

If anyone has information about the attempted theft, contact Norfolk Police by calling 101.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.

Do you have a story from the Fakenham area? Let us know by contacting Steve Shaw on the e-mail steve.shaw@archant.co.uk.

You can also call our office on 01362 854702 or message us on the Fakenham and Wells Times Facebook page.