Kamikaze drivers who dice with death have been condemned by the official charged with cutting crime in the Ongar and North Weald area.

And former police sergeant Tony Ellis has also criticised drivers of slow-moving vehicles who hog the road and whose selfishness provokes other motorists to take risks.

Mr Ellis, now the district's crime reduction officer, said most drivers of slow vehicles, such as tractors or JCBs, do pull over at regular intervals to allow other motorist to pass.

Those who do not "pose a threat as hazardous to us as any criminal," he said.

His warning follows a journey he made along the A113 from Passingford Bridge to Ongar in a slow-moving column of cars held up by a tractor.

"I could see the frustrations building up in the drivers in front of me as they weaved in and out looking to overtake," he said.

"Eventually, one went for an overtake and was followed in kamikaze fashion by two others who couldn't have had a view of oncoming traffic.

"The first driver's actions were irresponsible; the actions of the second and third were downright suicidal.

"They all managed to get away with it but it was the sort of thing that makes your blood run cold.

"What they did was stupid and dangerous. It could easily have caused a fatal accident."

But Mr Ellis, who used to serve in Ongar, says the tractor driver is also at fault.

"He makes no attempt to pull over from time to time, to allow the traffic to pass. Instead, he watches the drivers play chicken as they try to overtake him."

He urges drivers of tractors and heavy machinery to avoid using main roads during busy times.

"Let's get our acts together: keeping safe by driving with consideration is common sense and should be practised by us all."

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