A man who forced a woman out of her £14,000 car during a test drive is being hunted by police.

The 40-year-old female owner had advertised her Range Rover for sale and believed she was meeting a potential buyer.

She took the man for a test drive but when they got the Balcombe Road area of Crawley he became aggressive.

The offender, believed to be about 27, forced her out of the car before driving along the Balcombe road in the direction of Pound Hill.

The woman suffered shock but was not injured in the theft, which took place between 1.40pm and 2.10pm on Thursday afternoon.

Detective Constable Howard Bostock, of Crawley CID, said: "It isn't something we have dealt with in Crawley before.

"We are obviously trying to see whether there have been other incidents across the rest of the country.

"We would advise people to be aware of the possibility and the dangers and to try to guard against it by perhaps taking someone with you or confirming the person's identity before they take them out for a drive.

"But it's really something you wouldn't think of until it happened."

The man is described as Arabic in appearance, with dark cropped hair, clean shaven and slim build.

He was smartly dressed.

Crawley police are appealing for witnesses, especially anyone who may have seen the man in the vicinity of the Appletons pub, Balcombe Road, Crawley.

Mr Bostock said they were also keen to trace the occupants of a green Peugeot vehicle seen in the area at the time.

He said: "We would be interested in anyone that would have seen this person hanging around in the Appletons car park prior to going off with the victim. That is where they met.

"The green car was nearby and it may or may not be linked to this investigation but we would like them to get in touch so we can eliminate them from the inquiry."