A “road rage” van driver who subjected a mother and daughter to a terrifying chase on a country road has been jailed for six months.

Christopher Ward, aged 56, of Tall Trees, Flyford Flavell, near Pershore, was found guilty of dangerous driving after a trial earlier this month. He was also banned from driving for three years and will have to pass an extended driving test before he is allowed back on the road.

Ward chased 48-year-old Caroline Phillips and her 21-year-old daughter Emily for nearly two miles on the A422 Worcester-Stratford road in July last year.

He had pulled his VW Transporter van out in front of her Renault Clio from the North Piddle junction and had become angry when she blew her horn.

Ward said he had seen her left indicator flashing and followed her to warn her about this and to apologise for pulling out in front of her.

Judge Alistair McCreath told him his driving had been “very dangerous”.

“This involved road rage. You lost your sense of self- control.

"You followed her, tailgated her, drove alongside and gave the impression you were trying to force her off the road, then you overtook and drove on the wrong side of the road directly towards her,” he told Ward.

“It was very frightening. They were both terrified at being chased by a man in a vehicle larger than theirs.”

Farah Rashid, defending, said there had been no accident or injury and the offence was completely out-of-character for Ward, who is married with a 16-year-old son.

He had no previous convictions and had been a cycle safety training instructor for many years, doing about 20 hours’ voluntary work each week teaching children how to cycle safely.

He had his own building business but had been finding work difficult to come by in the recession. She said he would have trouble earning a living if he was unable to drive.