A businessman watched in horror as his new £17,000 lorry was driven past him by a brazen thief.
The Essex Police helicopter was even dispatched to look for the vehicle - without success.
Howard Newport, director of Wickford-based Newport Building Services, was surprised to receive a call from a colleague who said he had seen the white Iveco lorry heading along the A127.
The lorry had only just been delivered to the shopfitting business, in Victoria Court in Hurricane Way Business Park.
Mr Newport got into his car and drove onto the A127 at Dunton heading for Southend. He said: "As I reached the Fortune of War roundabout I saw it going the other way."
By the time he got back to the roundabout the lorry was nowhere to be seen. The total cost of the lorry theft, including its load, is put at £19,000.
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