A TEENAGE motorist feared he could have been seriously hurt after a van driver performed a dangerous undertaking move on a busy single-carriageway road.

The 18-year-old, from Colchester, who has asked not to be named, was travelling along Ipswich Road towards the town centre in rush hour on Tuesday morning when the man driving a BT van sped into the junction of Upland Drive to overtake him narrowly avoiding the pavement and other traffic.

The near-miss was recorded on the teenager's dash cam.

He said: "It was so dangerous.

"I thought to myself I didn't want to stoop to his level but I did give him a beep.

"He did not even get very far in front, it was a few metres in front of me and then back into the long run of slow traffic.

"Then he turned off at Cowdray Avenue less than a mile away.

"I don't really know what he was trying to gain."

The teenager had been beeped by the van driver before the incident after he left a gap between himself and the car in front.

He said: "I had left quite a large gap between me and the car in front because there are a lot of young children going to school and using the crossing.

"At one of the crossings instead of accelerating and braking when I got there I went slowly, allowing them to cross and for a smoother drive and he beeped me."

The man says he was forced to purchase a dash cam after a number of close calls, and branded Colchester's roads the worst he had experienced.

He said: "I've had so many near misses while driving in the town - it is so dangerous.

"As I am a young driver people might assume it is my fault so at least this puts things in my favour.

"Colchester has the worst roads ever, I went to Chelsmford the other week and it is so much easier with less roadworks and bus lanes."

A BT Openreach spokesman said they would launch an investigation into the incident.

He said:" This will be looked into.

"We obviously take driving safety very seriously and if any member of the public views unsafe driving we encourage them to report it us online so we can follow up at homeandwork.openreach.co.uk/get-in-touch.aspx"