A FATHER says he feared for his life after he was racially abused and threatened in a road rage attack.

Waheed Rehman, 33, from Undercliffe, was driving on Bradley Road, Huddersfield, when the shocking episode unfolded.

Mr Rehman, who works as a delivery driver, says he had finished a job when his van was hit by another car last Thursday.

He claims two men got out of the car, believed to be a red Vauxhall, and one ran towards his van with a baseball bat before launching a tirade of racially abusive language at him.

Mr Rehman says his van was then hit with the baseball bat “with some force”.

“I could feel the vibrations,” he said. “I feared for my wellbeing - I drove off, pulled up and put my hazards on and phoned the police.”

Mr Rehman says he was told police would turn out, but after waiting for an hour he was forced to flag down a traffic police officer to pass on the details and eventually got a call on Sunday to say someone would look at it.

“I was fearful for my life,” Mr Rehman said. “When I went home, I realised ‘what the hell has happened here?’

“I’m a 33-year-old man and I’ll admit it, I was scared when I saw them coming at me. It could have ended up much worse.

“My dad is an ill man, I look after him and I thought to myself ‘imagine having to get that phone call from the police’.

“My wife and kids were away in Birmingham, imagine them getting that phone call?”

West Yorkshire Police are now investigating the attack and have admitted they could have done more to help when Mr Rehman first reported it to them.

Chief Inspector Jon Dunkerley, of Kirklees District Police, said: “Unfortunately officers did not manage to get to the victim within an hour.

“The victim did flag down a passing police patrol to pass on details of the incident and officers have since been to see the victim.

“We do, however, recognize that this was a distressing time for the victim and that our service to him could have been better. We take all hate crimes extremely seriously and the matter will be robustly managed to ensure we catch the perpetrators.”

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident is asked to contact the police via 101 quoting log number 723 of Thursday, August 3.