A lorry driver was attacked and his truck hijacked - all for two phones and a wallet.

The lorry's trailer was carrying flowers and police believe the robbers got the wrong vehicle and were looking for a much more valuable cargo.

The 30ft articulated lorry was flagged down on the A12 Kelvedon bypass at 10.30pm last night.

The 25-year-old trucker, a married man with children who lives in Clacton, thought they were police and stopped in a lay-by.

He had just made a delivery in Kent and was returning to haulage firm Massingham and Sons with flowers and pot plants.

One of the robbers, who had a tattoo on his right earlobe, got into the cab and forced the lorry driver to follow a dark-coloured Mondeo car containing two accomplices.

It stopped in a country lane at Little Tey, off the A120, near a lorry park at Elm Farm and the robbers got out and tried to open the trailer.

The doors were jammed and the trucker was abused and hit in the face.

Eventually the robbers fled with two mobile phones and a wallet from the lorry cab.

Lorry owner Chris Massingham said today his driver had been terrified.

"He wasn't knocked to the ground or anything but he was hit in the face," he said.

"I have told him to go and see his doctor and I do not expect him back at work for a while."

Mr Massingham said he spoke to the driver at 8.45pm when he was at Chelmsford and expected him back within the hour.

"I tried making some phone calls to find where he was but they had taken his mobile phone and ripped the telephone out of the lorry," he said.

Det Sgt Bob Kettle, of Colchester police, said today: "It looks like a random attack that has gone wrong."

Police want to hear from anyone who saw a dark-coloured Mondeo car on the A12 at the time of the incident. It could have followed the lorry from Kent.

One of the robbers was white, in his mid-30s, 5ft 8ins tall, with dark straight short hair and a London accent. He wore a black leather jacket and had a tattoo on his right earlobe, possibly a spider's web design.

Another was a white man in his mid-30s also with a London accent and 6ft 4ins tall. He wore a light beige jacket.

Anyone with information should ring Colchester Police on 01206 762212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

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