POLICE have this week urged the public to report incidents of car crime "as soon as possible" following recent cases involving women who were pursued while driving home at night. Two Farnham women, who both claim to have been tailed on separate occasions as they made their way home from The Ridgway, Farnham, and a local village pub, had to "lose" their pursuers by turning off their lights and driving around in circles. Not wanting to give her name through fear of reprisal, a 22-year-old barmaid was left shaken last Friday evening after being followed home by two cars of youths after her shift. "There were two cars that stopped outside the pub just as we were closing and they were all smoking and drinking and looking at their cars," she explained. "I waited until they were gone but once I left and was on the road, I noticed that they were right behind me. I pulled over to see if they wanted to go past but they didn't and I wasn't sure what to do as they followed me all the way home. "I lost them by driving round and round the area until they got bored and left." She said that she didn't see the point in contacting the police as they "wouldn't bother" to do anything about it. "I certainly wouldn't drive to the police station in Farnham. Apart from the fact that it's closed then anyway, I just don't feel safe in Farnham town centre on a Friday night and I would never go there, especially being followed." Julia Wrathall experienced a similar incident at around 9pm outside the Tesco Express on The Ridgway, Farnham, two weeks ago. She noticed a man staring at her from a van as she got into her car and realised as she pulled away that the van was behind her. "He followed me and kept slowing down for me to overtake him and then sitting right behind me so that I would slow down to let him overtake," she said. "I didn't know what he was doing and eventually he just stopped on Frensham Road and I overtook him at speed, turned my lights off and drove home very quickly. I pulled into my drive and waited until I saw him pass the house before going inside." Ms Wrathall explained that she didn't inform the police because she had not noticed the registration plate of her follower and didn't see what they could do. "I lived in Africa for many years and I've experienced things a lot nastier than this. You have to get on with life, it's creepy but these things happen sometimes and they can't dictate the way you live." Both incidents are unrelated and neither victim reported their frightening experiences to police as they didn't believe anything would be done about it. DCI Ian Chandler of Surrey Police urged the women to come forward with information so that they could build "a bigger picture" of the events. "We cannot investigate matters which have not been brought to our attention," he said. "Surrey Police will treat this type of incident very seriously and we are keen to hear whatever information these woman have, however scant."
