A LORRY driver abducted in Banbury was dumped by the roadside in Cheshire after a near three-hour ordeal.

The trucker, who lives in Staffordshire, had pulled off the M40 and was asleep in his white Volvo lorry on the Overthorpe Industrial Estate at 2am on Friday, June 15, when three men wearing balaclavas broke into the vehicle.

The lorry was driven to Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, where the attackers set fire to the cab.

The driver was then driven by car to Knutsford before being left at the roadside.

A Banbury police spokesman said: "Nothing was stolen from the lorry which was loaded with bottles of Pernod, and the driver received a minor head injury but did not need hospital treatment. Anyone who might have seen anything suspicious on the Overthorpe Estate at the time of the abduction should contact the police on 08458 505505.