A security camera captured the moment a woman chased away a car thief while wearing nothing but a bath towel.
Nicki Vine had not long got out of the tub and was sitting on the sofa when she noticed the camera had detected movement outside.
She bolted out of the door as soon as she saw the helmet-clad thief trying to open the doors of her dad’s work van.
The footage shows Nicki sprinting out of the home with one hand holding the towel up and the other clutching a baseball bat.
The startled thief ran down the street and was picked up by a motorbike-riding accomplice.
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The pair then fled – but not before Nicki stepped into the road and took a swing at them, whacking the bike as it sped past.
Nicki, who lives with dad Darren in Broadstone, Poole, Dorset, said they had been victims of car thieves before and she wasn’t going to sit back when she saw they were being targeted again.
She said: ‘I got home from my friend’s house at 10pm and had a bath before bed. I sat for a while in the lounge in my towel and that’s when I saw a neighbour’s security light go on.
‘I saw on our CCTV monitor a motorbike drive past slowly with two people on it and then it came back. I thought it was odd.
‘One of them got off and walked down the road and I had a sixth sense what he was about to do.
‘He tried that handle of the van and I got a little bit angry, that’s our livelihood.
‘I ran outside with the bat in just my towel. The guy saw me and ran away. I threw the bat at him, but it missed.
‘Then I heard the motorbike start up and stepped into the road to play chicken with it. I remember shouting “come on then”.
‘He drove towards me and I had to step out of the way. I took a swing at him and I am pretty sure I hit the bike.
‘When I got back in the house I realised I was physically shaking.’
Nicki works with her father as a plasterer. He was in the process of taking some tools out of the van and had left the side door unlocked when the thief pounced.
She said: ‘We have been the victims of thieves before and when I saw it was going to happen again I just thought I’m not going to let it happen.
‘I didn’t really care about what would happen, you have just got to stand up for yourself.
‘The support I have had from the neighbours has been incredible.’
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