DRIVERS who provide taxi services late at night have warned people to remain vigilant when out, after a driver became worried for a woman’s welfare while walking alone.

Marlborough based Amber Car driver Ian Dinmamode has spoken out after seeing a woman walking away from Marlborough High Street who was talking on her phone, and who appeared to be being followed by a man who jumped over some railings and ran up to her.

The woman remained unaware that she was no longer alone while walking at 2.45am in the early hours of Sunday morning, and the taxi driver made the decision to pull over and make sure she was OK.

As he pulled up alongside her, the man walked past without saying anything.

When he told her about the man who had been running towards her, she was shocked and said she had not noticed anything unusual. The taxi driver then drove her home.

He said: “She was totally unaware and quite shocked when I told her and I had to repeat it to her as she didn’t believe me the first time.

“I can’t say I’ve noticed anything like this before despite being the only company that’s generally out at that time of night.

“It all just seemed a little weird to me.

“I asked her if she knew who he was. She was completely unaware that there was anyone there and was shocked at what I had told her.

“I took her home free of charge to make sure she got home safely.”

The incident has led Mr Dinmamode to warning others to be aware of their surroundings when alone on rural roads, where passer-bys can be rare.

He believes that what he saw was probably not anything dangerous, but remains worried as he feels people could be vulnerable when walking alone on country roads late at night.

Mr Dinmamode has warned people to remain vigilant when out at night.

All licenced taxi drivers have gone through checks carried out by the Disclosure and Barring Service before they can work with the public.

Official hackney carriage licence holders are required to carry out training to understand safeguarding procedures, so they can take action if they come across what seems to them to be an unsafe situation.