A CLACTON man says he could have been killed after a brick was thrown at his van on the A12.

Hadley Nye was driving back from a job in London with one of his daughter's friends, George, 16. 

They were travelling on the A12 northbound near the Southend turn-off at about 9.30pm on a Sunday.

But the peace was disturbed when a huge brick was thrown at the windscreen.

Mr Nye said: "Me and my passenger saw this white flicker to the right of me and I thought it was an owl by the way it was moving.

"It all happened so quickly - the brick hit the windscreen with such an impact.

"I don't know how I did it, but I didn't falter. I felt the shock and I realised the windscreen was gone."

Mr Nye managed to continue driving despite the shattered windscreen.

He said: "My initial reaction was still to drive, so I had to sit up real straight to try and get to grips with the windscreen.

"I didn't swerve - I was very very lucky.

"I gripped the wheel and didn't stop despite the shock because I didn't know what to do.

"I was already delayed and now I was annoyed the windscreen had gone, and I wanted to go home.

"I continued driving - with both mine and George's eyes on the road - until I got to a garage about a mile from home."

The cost to repair the damaged van came to £400. 

Mr Nye said: "Whoever threw that brick doesn't understand the risk and that it could have killed me.

"They probably think it's funny when a car swerves away, but it isn't and they need to understand the consequences of their actions."

Mr Nye says his children, aged 3, 12 and 15, would have had to grow up without a father if the brick had been six inches higher. 

He said: "The next day at six in the morning I picked my youngest daughter Hattie straight up and gave her a huge cuddle.

"I did that every day all week after the incident because it's not just about taking my life, it's also about the impact it would've had on her.

"She would have grown up without me, and I provide for my kids and family as much as I can, and I wouldn't have been able to be there for them.

"If the brick had been thrown an extra six inches higher it would have taken me straight out."

Mr Nye has not reported the incident to the police.

He said: "I meant to, but I've just been so busy.

"It's shocked me all week. I've been back down that road and shivers went down my spine.

"The police are short-staffed as it is so they're not going to control all the bridges to stop this.

"But there could be cameras or netting or something. It needs some sort of deterrent."